


When in Xing

by Xmenfan33



Series: Fullmetal Dadchemist [4]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, Dysfunctional Family, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:00:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27386830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xmenfan33/pseuds/Xmenfan33
Summary: Ling Yao returns to Xing victorious and begins the process of fixing his own country, and family.Cross posted on FF.net
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell, Lan Fan/Ling Yao, Mei Chan | May Chang & Lan Fan, Mei Chan | May Chang & Ling Yao, Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang
Series: Fullmetal Dadchemist [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862371
Comments: 33
Kudos: 65





	1. Return to Xing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We aren't in Amestris anymore Brother. Formality is expected." Mei replied.
> 
> "Not. In. here." Ling said angrily. "I did not sell my soul, tear apart my body, surrender my will to be a damn puppet! We became a team, we remain a team or everything I sacrificed was for nothing."

Return to Xing

Imperial City

Imperial Palace

8:00 am

The trip had been long, and until this last leg, secret. Ling Lao refused to slink back to his father's side in secret however. He wanted his brothers and sisters to know he had won the contest. For the last leg of the journey he had arranged to be escorted by the entirety of his clan, as well as Mei's.

It looked like a grand parade as they entered the walls of the Imperial City, drums and bells rang loudly as a caller announced the arrival of the Yao Prince. Carried in a palanquin with Lan Fan on his left and Mei on his right Ling waived with a straight face as people gathered to watch. His advisors and spies assured him he was the first to return. He had won his father's challenge. Now was the time to show his strength before any of his wayward siblings decided to move against him.

Ping, wrapped in the bright yellow silk that was the sign of his clan, sat firmly in Lan Fan's arms. She herself seemed slightly uncomfortable, dressed in a similar manner firmly declaring her his bride without him speaking a word. Mei wore the pink silk of her clan but had braided yellow ribbon in her hair to declare their alliance. As if riding on his side was not indication.

As the passed through the market square, enough of a crowd had gathered that it seemed a true celebration already, word spreading to the farthest reaches of the city. By nightfall, no doubt any of his siblings still in the country would know of his victory. The rest would be informed by the end of the week.

He knew with certainty that he and Mei were the only ones who dared cross the dessert. Many had gone north or east, and he knew at least two had gone south. Some may have even left the continent. He must send for them all soon, to offer them the same deal he had Mei. He would protect their clan in exchange for their loyalty.

His father, the Emperor, awaited his arrival in the throne room by the time they reached the palace. Surrounded by guards, and servants, Ling, Lan Fan, and Mei entered the throne room without a word. When the doors closed behind them and the servants and guards lined the walls, both women kneeled on cushioned stools before Him. Ling bowed but continued to stand as he awaited his father's word.

He knew the ceremony perfectly; his mother had explained it in great detail when he was barely able to walk and continued to do so as a bedtime tale until her assassination when he was eight. An event he neglected to mention to his new friend, mostly because he did not want to be accused of using his mother's loss to gain an advantage. He would use nearly anything, but not that.

Emperor Shi watched his son impassively for a few minutes before waiving a hand slightly, giving Ling permission to kneel as well. Ling was situated in front of the women, with them flanking him in a triangle. No one spoke until there had been not the slightest hint of a rustle of cloth. Then the Emperor said, in his cold hard voice. "Ling, son of the Yao clan, you present yourself to me in such spectacle what right have you above your peers?"

"My Lord, I alone present to you the answer to your riddle." Ling said with a deep bow, his forehead nearly touching the polished floor.

Ling then reached for the jade box he had kept at his side from the moment he had arrived in the country, though its contents had sat in his inner pocket until he had arrived outside. A servant of his father's stepped forward to collect the box, taking a moment to look inside in case of sabotage before presenting it to Emperor Shi.

The man took the box and looked inside, a small pleased smile flited across his face briefly before he set it aside. Ling did not miss the vial slip up his father's sleeve. He knew Lan Fan hadn't either. Shi then indicated Ling rise, before rising himself and stepping down to stand in front of the young prince. Ling hadn't known to expect this and it took everything in him to fight the instinct to pull one of the many daggers hidden on his person.

Instead of acknowledging his son's discomfort in any way, the man nodded his head over Ling's right shoulder where Lan Fan was currently kneeling. "You're other treasure?"

Ling nodded to Lan Fan, who rose to stand just behind the prince. Ling said loudly with pride. "I present my bride, Lan Fan, and my first heir Ping Shi Yao."

"He is rather slight." The emperor stated with a sniff.

"He is above the age of presentation. Thirty-two days." Ling said calmly. "I have physicals reports on his health."

"Very well. You are prepared to officially claim him."

"Yes."

The emperor nodded but made no move to further interact with the child, instead he addressed the court recorder "Send word to all the clans, Ling Yao has been named Heir Apparent. The first ceremony to take place summer solace."

"I name Mei Chang my second." Ling declared formally, nodding for his sister to rise as well. " The Chang clan has officially been bound to the Yao."

"Ah yes, I was wondering when that would be addressed." The Emperor said snidely. "Raised yourself up in the world then haven't you, little bird?" he said to his daughter, who simply nodded without a word. "Very well. She is now your responsibility. I declare her among your heirs."

With that the meeting was dismissed, and servants lead the prince and his family to their apartments they would use while in the palace. The remainder of the Yao-Chan clan would be housed with the servants on the grounds. All had gone as expected.

Ling's apartments

6:00 am

Ling was used to rising with the sun, years of training could not be abandoned thanks to less than a day as Heir. It seemed surreal to him. Years of training and planning and scheming was over now. He had won. All of the loss and pain. All of the fighting and training. He wondered what to do now. Would it really be this easy? With heirs already in place, it made him less of a target only in that it was questionable if his assassination would improve another's chance to take his slot.

Still, it was not the time to let down his guard. He was still in danger, perhaps as much danger as last month when he helped Edward defeat Father. Ling watched the sunrise through the shuttered windows before sitting down to write Edward and inform him of the events of the trip.

Ping and Lan Fan were up as well, he heard them in the nursery, she was singing him a cradle song she had picked up from Edward. Ling recognized it well. He considered calling out to invite them out to join him but wasn't sure he wanted to interrupt. Since they married, Lan Fan had been nervous and quiet around him. He wondered if she regretted agreeing but wasn't sure how to ask. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Truthfully, he had loved her a long time. He was pretty sure she at least liked him too. Duty and honor had kept them at arm's length until now…and now he didn't know how to change that. She would defend him to the death. But he wanted her to share his life. He needed advice, and there was no one to ask. Miserably, he stepped into his dining room to find breakfast had been laid out for them, and sat to eat.

A few minutes later, Mei came in as well and after hesitating a moment joined him at that table. "Has Lan Fan not risen?" She asked politely.

"She is attending Ping." Ling responded. "You needn't be so formal with me little sister. Not in our rooms. Lan Fan either."

"We aren't in Amestris anymore Brother. Formality is expected." Mei replied.

"Not. In. here." Ling said angrily. "I did not sell my soul, tear apart my body, surrender my will to be a damn puppet! We became a team, we remain a team or everything I sacrificed was for nothing."

"Peace Brother." Mei said. "It was for everything. You are weeks away from coronation. Now is not the time to grow careless."

"My wife won't speak to me at all and my heir treats me as a stranger. I don't feel this is a victory." Ling said. "Excuse me, I want to hold my son."

Ling wandered into the nursery, where Lan Fan was still sitting with the baby, and plucked the baby from her arms. "You should eat."

"Have you eaten, My Lord." Lan Fan asked in her soft voice.

"I have, and so should you." Ling said as he regretfully placed the baby in a cradle for a moment, before turning to his wife. He pulled her to her feet gently from the rocking chair to hug her. "You are my wife now Lan Fan. Please, stop addressing me so formally. At least in private."

"I shall try." Lan Fan said, after a moment returning the hug.

"You make me wonder if you regret agreeing to marry me." Ling said with the smirk he wears as a mask, in a light and playful tone.

"I do not." Lan Fan said after a moment. "You might in time."

"Why in the world would I regret marrying you? I love you." Ling said, before he realized he had said that out loud, and his wife stiffened in his arms. He had been so careful to avoid those words. He had yet to say them, and had hoped to wait until a more appropriate setting. Preferably involving a romantic dinner, and time for her to get used to being his wife.

"I love you too." Lan Fan said. "I am not a princess, nor do I know how to be. I can not bare you sons. I am a bad match, and you will come to regret making me your first wife."

"I can not sire you sons, I don't need you to be anything but you, and I don't give a damn about tradition you are my only wife." Ling said with conviction. "Of course my Father and his advisors don't need to know that, or any of my other plans. I will do everything I can to make your life happy. You and Ping are all I need."

Lan Fan nodded but didn't truly believe him. She believed that he believed that but he was still young. In time he would regret her not giving him more children.

Three Days Later

Prince's Apartments

1:00-pm

Since his talks with his sister and wife they had relaxed slightly. He reminded them a few times of their time abroad and it was going well. He decided he wanted to hire Darius and Heinkel as personal guards if they would agree, so he was writing them now. He also decided to invite several friends to his coronation, and the party beforehand. He compiled a list and sent it to his father's retainer for approval.

The coronation itself took less than an hour, but the guests were to be entertained for two weeks before hand. Ling was inviting Edward, of course. That was the first person on his list he was putting together. Followed by Colonel Mustang, though Ling had learned the man was now a general. Darius and Heinkel were invited. Alphonse wouldn't be healthy enough to travel, though Ling would love to invite him. He thought about it and added him to the guest list but intended to send a letter excusing him as well.

He sat there thoughtfully, trying to think of anyone else he wanted to invite personally, but the truth was aside from his clan he didn't have a lot of people he knew personally well enough to invite. That said, there was the leaders of their neighbors as well. It would do well in his plans to begin to forge alliances early. Thoughtfully he tapped his chin before he added the fuhrer of Amestris, the king of Drachma, and the king of Aurego. He then frowned as he considered his siblings. They would all be invited, of course, but some were more trustworthy than others at this point.

He knew that Mei was of course, though a year ago she wouldn't have been an ally which gave him hope for at least some of the others. He was fairly certain he could sway five without difficulty. The Li Princess was his age and had never seemed interested in the throne itself, rather her clan's honor. The Wang Prince had never sent an assassin after any of their siblings as far as he knew, though he was older than Ling so that may be a sticking point. The Zhang clan's prince was the youngest if he remembered correctly, he was only three Ling was certain he could sway the boy's mother. The Yang Princess was fairly even tempered and had expressed desire for clam unification before she was a year older than him so it may be an issue as well. The Zhao Prince was a toss up but Ling was fairly certain he could be swayed.

On the other hand, he needed to be very wary of Ren Liu and Dalip Wu. They were responsible for the deaths of seven of their siblings already. They had formed an allegiance years before when they were barely old enough to understand pacts and had stuck to it… The remainder of his siblings he didn't know enough about off hand to make a judgement, but he had put his guards on the matter. He needed to know where to house them for the ceremonies after all.

Once he had finished his lists and set the guest list aside to give to the aides, he locked the rest of his paperwork in his desk and went in search of his family. He needed to talk to the girls about what was happening, because he was thinking about picking someone to send back to Amestris with Edward to teach Alkahestry to the Elric brothers. It was their legacy after all.

He found Lan and Mei in the sitting room speaking quietly about the state of their relationship. There had been more than one fight between the two before they had formed their current alliance and both still had ruffled feathers over it but were trying to make peace as Ling requested. He loathed to interrupt their peace talks but he was very short on time at the moment and he needed to make arrangement as quickly as he could.

He sat down and explained what he was intending. Mei frowned, if anyone was going to teach the Elrics she wanted to do it. She didn't think Ling would agree though, not with everything else going on. She was his heir after all. Still, Ling was surprisingly flexible with his rulings so she may be able to sway him. Then that was one less thing he needed to arrange.

Ping was brought into the room a few minutes later by his nurse, and Lan took him gratefully. She seemed to share Ling's desire to keep the child in sight at all times. They were hindered by royal protocol, which Ling fully intended to ignore the moment he was no longer under his father's rule.

He knew a lot of the changes he intended could make him as many enemies as allies, which is why he intended to sway the five clans to his side as quickly and quietly as possible. For now though, he wanted to spend the next couple of hours with his wife and sister.

One Week Later

Ling had with permission invited the five clans early for a peace negotiation. His father had warned him it was a waste of time, but allowed it for no other reason to teach the boy humility. Ling had planned this meeting carefully. Instead of having all five siblings arrive at once and risk a clan war in the palace, Ling had staggered the visits. Each sibling would be escorted by a handful of guards and attendants to hear his offer and then would be sent home before the next arrived. There was roughly six weeks until his coronation so that gave him a week for each sibling, with a tiny amount of time.

They would be arriving based on geographical location, the closest to the imperial city first, the farthest last so they would simply stay in the city instead of returning later in the case of the farthest. That meant that Ling would be talking to the Zhang clan first and the Li clan last. He was just his luck that the first sibling he intended to negotiate with was the one to young for these things. He hoped the mother was reasonable and kind, like his own mother, but he knew this was not a priority on his father's list so it could go either way.

With the risk of his plans in mind, he decided to spend the day with his family to get their approval. Lan and Mei both knew something was going on for him to suggest a day spent in the western gardens. He carried on despite both women being suspicious. They were right after all. He loathed to do it but he even agreed to leave Ping in the care of his Nurse for the afternoon so that if there was yelling it wouldn't disturb the baby.

Once they had settled into the walk and were a fair distance from the palace, or as far as they could reasonably get and still be inside the walls, he sighed heavily before inviting them both to sit. Lan and Mei sat on either side of him on the stone bench, and he worried briefly that after all he had survived this would be the end of him. "As I explained in Amestris, I intend to bring all the clans together as one. Now the first step of this will be my refusal to take additional brides, though father doesn't need to know that. The second step is to negotiate with other clans, which father does know about. He thinks I'm wasting my time, but I have to try. With that in mind, I've invited the five families most likely to agree to an alliance to visit me in the palace. I'm not stupid. Each has been invited separately and will all leave before the next arrives. "

"You really are a fool Ling Yao. Just don't get killed, or get my people killed." Mei said.

"If it is your will, so be it." Lan said with a bow.

"None of that now. I told you, you are my wife. I expect to be treated the same as you would any husband when we are in private. That means if you think I'm being stupid say it." Ling said to his wife, who simply nodded her head then shrugged. "I assume then I have both of your support?"

Both women nodded, though neither actually thought it was a good idea. In the end all three walked away fairly unhappy with the conversation. It was times like these he missed Ed and the Chimeras most. They didn't sugar coat anything just because he was a possessed prince. They treated him the same as they treated each other which frankly was wonderful after a lifetime of being either prince or target.


	2. The Zhang Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ling was wrong, he realized right away, by thinking his younger brother was three. As he looked down from the balcony, at the child now he doubted the boy was anywhere close to three. He tried to remember how long before he'd left to cross the desert that it was announced his brother had been born. Now that he thought about it, it couldn't have been more than a few months, making this child now even two yet. That made things a bit more complicated. He hoped he could win the mother over

The Zhang Prince

Monday

Imperial Palace

Ling was wrong, he realized right away, by thinking his younger brother was three. As he looked down from the balcony, at the child now he doubted the boy was anywhere close to three. He tried to remember how long before he'd left to cross the desert that it was announced his brother had been born. Now that he thought about it, it couldn't have been more than a few months, making this child now even two yet. That made things a bit more complicated. He hoped he could win the mother over.

His youngest brother, one and a half year old Huan Zhang was due to arrive any moment, and Ling awaited them in the secondary court designed for the crown prince/princess rather than the emperor. He tried not to show any sign of nervousness, but the truth was if he couldn't win this one over it seemed like it was probably a lost cause on the other four.

Eventually, twenty minutes after he had been informed the Zhang clan had arrived to see him, the doors finally opened. A small boy, about the size of Ed's son, was led into the room by an elderly woman and young girl of about eight. The baby looked around with wide eyes at all the glittering ornaments along the walls, the girl was doing slightly better at hiding her interest but not much. The elderly woman kept her eyes trained on the floor, a frown on her face.

One of the palace guards followed closely behind them, much to Ling's annoyance. He could handle an old lady and a couple of children. He'd crossed the dessert and fought immortal beings! Of course, that wasn't general knowledge. Before anyone could speak one of his father's advisors slipped into the room and gestured to Ling that they needed to speak to him.

Ling sighed but waived them up. This was not going to leave a good impression on the Zhangs. The man rushed over to him as the woman kneeled and quietly instructed the girl to do the same. Little Huan was then pulled into the woman's lap. Ling leaned over his temporary throne so that the advisor could speak to him without passing the top step of the dais which is forbidden.

"We encountered a problem with the Zhang clan my lord." The man said almost to quietly for Ling to hear. "It appears this is what remains of them. They were raided last week, and the woman who was the head cook of Prince Huan's household was able to escape with the two children."

"I see." Ling said growing cold. With his clan gone, little Huan would need to be absorbed into another clan or he would be exiled according to the old laws. The woman had spared his life, but for how long? Ling didn't need to think about it. He had called this meeting in hopes of joining the clans and this was what he had to do. "Send word to my father. I have adopted a third heir."

The advisor nodded. As crown prince it was Ling's right to keep or reject any of the dead clans before anyone else was consulted. It was fortunate for Huan that Ling had won the race. Indeed there were several of their siblings who would have ordered these three directly out of the palace and into the desert. "Very good my lord. He said he would expect that reaction after the adoption of the Chan clan. He said to remind the Zhangs that Prince Ping is still considered first son."

Ling nodded as he suppressed a snort. As if birth order had mattered in his father's court. Ling then turned to the group kneeling before them. If they had overheard any of the conversation they didn't let on. Ling smiled down at the toddler who apparently was now to be his son. To think, he had been sad to learn he would never be a father and it turned out he would be anyway.

With the advisor's departure an aide stepped forward to formally introduce the members of the Zhang clan. The elderly woman was introduced as Ai Lon, and the girl Boa Zhang. As it turned out Boa was Huan's aunt. Ling felt immense sadness for the child and the woman who was the girl's caregiver. He invited them to live in the palace along with little Huan.

Ai seemed skeptical, but accepted the offer. She would work in the kitchens as she had for her clan. After a long conversation it was decided that Huan, as Ling's adopted son, would join Ping in Ling's apartments. Boa was given the choice to stay with Ai or Huan. She debated but in the end wished to stay with Ai but was promised she could come and play with Huan as often as she liked.

Once that was settled, and Ling really hoped to avoid anymore adoptions of this nature, he stepped down to the top stair of the Dias so the Ai could hand him his new son. Huan had been passed through enough caregivers in his young life that this trade barely managed to be noticed aside from a brief waive to the woman who had saved his life. Ling gave the boy a bemused smile as the room emptied and he was able to sneak out to the hallway.

He carried the boy up to his rooms to introduce him to his wife and son. As he entered the apartments he heard Ping crying in the nursery and Lan singing to him. Ling smiled at the sound and headed in that direction. He ran into Mei along the way as she came out of her rooms. She noticed the child on his hip right away, and the deep purple of his clothes.

"I know you said you were hoping to adopt in the other clans, but I didn't know you meant it literally." Mei said as she wiggles her fingers at the toddler.

"The Zhang clan has been destroyed. There remains three members including the prince." Ling said tightly.

"I see. Well, Lan did say she wished you could have a second son." Mei said. She, like Ling, knew what it meant to lose your clan. Unlike Ling she had come close to the minimum numbers during her childhood and as such she felt great sympathy for the child.

"Come Huan, lets introduce you to your new mother. She's going to adore you." Ling said instead of responding.

Mei followed her brothers through into the nursery where Lan was about to place Ping back into his cradle. She spotted Huan, and recognized him by his colors like Mei had. Lan quickly settles her son into his cradle and gestures for them to leave the nursery.

As soon as they are out to the sitting room Ling set Huan down to let him explore the area. Mei quickly shut the door so no one would have to chase after him. "Lan, Mei, allow me to introduce Huan Zhang Lao. Second son of the crown prince."

"Which clan was it that did this?" Lan asked as she picked the boy up. He patted her shoulder then looked around again in fascination.

"I am having it looked into as we speak. If this behavior persists now that word has had a chance to get around I will be sure to have them banished." Ling said, all lightheartedness leaving his voice instantly.

The two women nodded before Ling came over to hug his wife. "You see though my love? You feared you would not be able to provide me enough heirs and providence provided."

"You don't really believe that so you brother?" Mei asked.

"Of course not, but the advisors will. They will see it as a strong sign that I can already list three heirs." Ling said. "Oh, just wait until Edward finds out that Yuery has a playmate! I'm not going to mention it in my letter, wait for him to find out in person. It will be fun."

"I wish Alphonse could make it." Mei said with a sigh.

"None of that, dear sister. I've already decided I'm sending you back to teach the Elrics." Ling said and pretended to be annoyed by Mei's squeal of happiness. "You will see him soon enough because I'm sending you back with them. None of that crossing the desert on your own nonsense this time."

"Oh thank you brother! I can't wait to see my Alphonse again." Mei gushed before wandering out of the room. She intended to write Al herself, though Ling would mention to her to keep it secret before she had a chance to send it.

Tuesday

Ling woke to a small face pressed nearly nose to nose with his own. He was very grateful to spending several months in the company of his friend and child because it prepared Ling for this sort of thing. Instead of reacting with the initial instinct to pull his dagger, he relaxed at the smallness of the human on top of him and instead wrapped his arms around the boy and tucked him to his side. He had seen Ed do this a thousand times it seemed like. He had mimicked the move a few times himself. It always seemed to work with Yuery to get him to sleep for a while longer.

As it turned out Huan wasn't much different. Though he didn't go back to sleep, he did willing stay laying cuddled next to Ling. Ling hoped this meant the boy was used to being doted on and not that he was craving affection. He didn't have enough experience to gage it correctly, but he assumed it was that Huan was used to cuddles in the morning.

Lan Fan stirred beside them, used to waking early after years of training she rarely slept in Ling had noticed. It made sleeping in himself impossible since his own conditioning made him a very light sleeper. Huan noticed Lan Fan stirring and seemed to decide that meant it was absolutely time to get up. He squirmed around in Ling's arms until Ling gave up and let go. Huan then launched himself at Ln Fan to wrap his tiny arms around her neck. "I think someone likes you." Ling said with a smile.

"Good morning little one, how did you get in here?" Lan Fan said softly to the baby as she returned the hug careful of her automail arm.

"He was just across the hall, next to Ping. I assume he wandered in by luck." Ling said as he sat up himself. "I woke to him staring at me."

"He's probably hungry." Lan Fan said as she set the boy down to grab her robe. Ling picked the child up before he could begin to fuss and headed for the door. If his boy was hungry he was getting food. Ling knew all about hunger and this child was one of his siblings it was very possible he had some of Ling's issues with food.

Ling ran into the night Nurse in the hall, who looked immediately relieved to see the boy in his arms. She had been searching for the child for at least fifteen minutes and had no idea where he could have gone. Once she knew the elder baby was alright she turned her attention to the younger one.

As they ate breakfast, Ling realized he had found himself with several days with nothing prescheduled. He had dedicated that time to convincing his brother's guardians that joining the Yao clan was in their best interest but now all that was left to do was fill out the official paperwork. Well, and get started on bonding with the boy.

Ling was excited, now that it had begun to sink in, at the prospect of having not one but two sons, when just two months ago he had been told he would never have children at all. Edward would always have his gratitude for making fatherhood possible for him. He intended therefore to officially name the Elrics to be considered 'Honored Friends of the Yao Clan" which would give both brothers permission to enter the country whenever they wished without waiting through the red tape at the edge of the dessert. It would make it easier for the entire Amestrian party if he could get the paperwork pushed through fast enough.

Suddenly Ling had new self appointed work to fill in those empty three days, because as it turned out the crown prince doesn't actually get a day off. That said, he fully intended to set aside time to bond with his new children.

Thursday

Ling had a headache, and after spending the better part of two days with his father and the advisors, he seriously considered gathering his family and just running back across the desert. He was pretty sure he could beg for asylum based on his role in Promised Day.

He changed his mind about leaving halfway to his apartments when he realized that would mean abandoning the hope that he could make things better for his people. Not just the Yao clan but all of them. He just needed to remind himself of that when things grew tense with his father. He had to step carefully, weigh every word and gesture, the entire time he was in the man's presence. The Emperor would love to find a reason to rescind the agreement made between himself and his surviving children.

Instead of allowing anything to show on his face, or beginning to pack, Ling turned his thoughts to what still needed to be done before the foreigners began arriving. Aside from what he had already taken over to study, Ling's days were currently rather empty.

After these meetings, Ling didn't think he'd be keeping any of his father's advisors. He began planning on how he would go about phasing them out as he walked along, barely noticing the bodyguards that constantly surrounded him outside of his apartment. He had been surrounded by guards most of his life after all, and he was well trained and could easily defend himself.

Huan and Ping were both awake and in the sitting room with Lan Fan and Mei when Ling arrived. He was happy to see them all, as he scooped Ping out of Lan Fan's arms and sat on the lounge so Huan could climb up next to him. He then began breaking down his day for the others leaving out the parts that shouldn't be repeated like the exact location of troops, ect.

Lan Fan wasn't used to being princess yet, she was still very much a bodyguard in her mindset. Luckily, in her opinion, Mei had decided to take it upon herself to teach Lan Fan what she needed to know. Lan Fan and Mei were spending the hours Ling was locked in conference rooms with Mei teaching Lan Fan the ins and outs of her new role. Despite their rough start, and it was more than just rough, the two girls had grown to get along fairly well most of the time, much to Ling's relief.


	3. The Yang Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was not going to be able to be as involved in his care for his boys as Ed got to be with Yuery, but he refused to be as distant as his own father or anywhere close to it. Ed and Roy were the framework on which he was basing his role as a father. Truthfully, he didn't know many fathers. In his clan growing up, most of the fathers doubled as guards and soldiers and were rarely around. Fu had been the closest he had seen to a father before he'd gone west and the man was not comforting. He loved his granddaughter, but he also expected her to do her duty without fail.
> 
> No, Ling wanted to not be a father but rather a Dad.

The Yang Princess

Tuesday

Ling was nervous about this meeting. First because his half sister was a day late, which didn't speak well for the outcome of this meeting, and second because he was hoping that wasn't a sign that he was going to have news similar to last week.

Ling had only met Kenja Yang once, when he had been seven. At the time his father had called all of his living children to the palace to officially meet them. Ling had been escorted by his usual team of guards and his mother. It had been his last trip with her. The entire time he had been terrified. Even then, the idea of being around so many people who wanted him dead was terrifying.

That was a large part of why he was doing this. He didn't want any other children to grow up with that terror. The knowledge that at any time, you could wake up to a knife at your throat or your mother's corpse. He didn't want that for his younger siblings, and he certainly didn't want that for his son…sons. Children should not live with such fear.

He was an idealist. A fact that he had accepted long ago. However, if there was even a sliver of a chance that this generation could grow up with the simple lives described in story books, then he had to do his best to make it happen. To be honest with himself, until his journey across the desert he hadn't believed that such lives were real. He learned from watching the people of Amestris that it was possible. Even in the constant shadow of war, children there grew up loved.

Not all of them, and it was far from ideal, but it was better than the childhood he had been given. Better than the one his wife had been given as well. The Elrics…well to be fair the Elrics had suffered enough that they were not a good example of what he wanted to build. But the lives they lead now, the lives of friends they had introduced him to over the time he'd spent there. Now he knew his dream was possible, but the first step was these meetings.

Kenja Yang was announced, and a young woman who looked to Ling a lot like he would expect Mei to appear in a few years, was lead inside. Beside her came not family members but guards. It was entirely possible that she, like himself, no longer had a mother. It was sad that she brought no cousins or friends though. Although perhaps that was simply caution on her part judging by the barely shielded fear radiating off of her.

Kenja wore her hair back simply in a double braid wrapped around her head almost like a crown. Purple ribbons weaved into the braids, and her dress was of the same color. She kneeled on the forward cushioned stool without a word, her eyes remaining on the ground the entire time. Her guards, after surveying the room, reluctantly kneeled behind her but remained stiff and alert.

"Welcome Kenja Yang. Thank you for agreeing to come." Ling said using the kindest voice he could muster. "Was there trouble along the road?"

"Yes my lord. We were accosted by a band of assassins a few miles out of the capitol. I apologize for our late arrival." Kenja responded, finally looking up for a brief moment.

"It is nothing." Ling said waiving away her late arrival. "You can hardly be held at fault for the delay."

"Thank you my lord." Kenja said, relaxing slightly at his dismissal. "I have brought gifts, to honor your ascension."

One of the guards stood and brought forward a small cherrywood box. Ling's own guard made sure to take it and peer inside to ensure Ling's safety before handing it to the crown prince. Ling then opened the box, to find a pair of jade dragons entwined in gold. It was a beautiful statue. Ling nodded as he placed the lid back on the box and handed back to the guard to be put away.

"A most beautiful gift. Many thanks." Ling said politely. "Now, please relax and enjoy was break from the road. I've arranged room s for you to stay in while at the palace. I would invite you to join me for supper in the south garden this evening."

"Thank you, sire." Kenja replied. She was led from the room by one of the maids and Ling finally relaxed a little. He had sensed nothing hostile from her, perhaps she would be easy to persuade.

South Garden

7:00pm

Ling had debated the situation greatly, but in the end had Mei stay behind for this dinner, though he had Lan Fan join him. He had asked Mei to remain in the rooms as extra protection to his sons. She had agreed with only a minimal amount of pouting when he assured her they would not be gaining another roommate.

Ling and Lan Fan arrived in the garden a few minutes before Kenja. They had just been seated when one of the maids lead the princess out to the table. Ling thanked the woman, and dismissed her before greeting his sister. "Please. Sit. I invited you to join us for dinner, not to watch me eat."

"Thank you, sire." Kenja replied as she took the third seat.

"When we're out here, or anywhere other than in front of father's advisors or the throne rooms, please call me Ling." Ling said with a wide smile.

"Very well. Please, then call me Kenja." She replied, relaxing further. In truth, this meeting had made her very nervous. Though she had heard rumors that Ling was trying to unite the clans, and had already adopted two clans into his own, but on the other hand the history of their people said it was just as likely he would have all of his siblings removed before doing so.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Ling decided now was as good a time as any to start the conversation that would hopefully lead to peace negotiations. "So, I assume you are wondering why you were invited to visit the palace."

"I admit I was curious." She said as she placed her spoon back down.

"If I remember correctly, you have always been an advocate for clan unification. Stop me if I am incorrect. I wish to open talks between the Yao clan and Yang clan." Ling began. "Please continue eating. The soup is not nearly as good once it has grown cold."

"My lord takes his food very seriously." Lan Fan said, speaking for the first time since they arrived downstairs.

"Lan. I told you a hundred times. I am always Ling to you. Always. You are my wife, and the mother of my son."

"I had heard rumors that you had returned with a bride and heir." Kenja said with a smile. "As well as the prize that won the throne."

"I heard rumors that you refused to search." Ling said in response, his tone light.

"I did. I and Chen Li both refused to participate. I can not speak for her reasoning but mine was simple. I was not going to leave my clan vulnerable while I chased fairy tales." Kenja said, then realized how it sounded. "Of course, I doubt you had such issues. The Yao clan is considerably bigger."

"It's true, I didn't have to choose between providing for my clan or chasing the stone." Ling said with another waive. "I understand that you never really cared to have the throne either. I remember you sating so at the birthday dinner we attended as children."

"This is true. I do not find myself embarrassed that my younger brother has won. At least it was a kind one."

"Thank you. I assume then you are open to the idea of peace between our clans?"

"Yes, I feel that would be ideal. I understand if you wish to remove my title, but please, I beg you allow me to remain with my clan. They need me to continue to thrive."

"Do not be so rash." Ling said with a frown. "I appreciate that you are willing to give up so much for your people, but I have no intention of removing you from your place or title."

"… Historically-"

"I am aware of our history. Just last week, I was faced with Huan Zhang. He and two others are the sole survivors of the Zhang clan." Ling said and paused at Kenja's gasp. Apparently, word hadn't spread just yet. "I was faced with the choice of absorbing his clan or exiling Huan. He's currently upstairs eating dinner with Mei Chang in my apartments. The other two members of his clan prepared this dinner."

"So. The rumors are completely true for a change. You simply desire peace between clans."

"What I desire, is for no other child to wake to the knowledge that their mother was murdered for the 'crime' of being the forced bride of the emperor. I want the children of our great nation to grow up in a kingdom of peace." Ling said. "I want my son to live a happy and long life."

"We have similar ideals then."

"I had hoped I remembered that correctly. Now enough of that for tonight. Tomorrow is soon enough to worry about details. Tell me more about yourself."

"Well. I married against father's wishes six months ago, to a young man far below my station. I do not regret it, though I feel it must be made known before we continue."

"Lan Fan was my bodyguard. My primary bodyguard for the last three years. She is now my wife, and the mother of my son. I am glad you have found happiness, as I have. Traditions are not always the right way to go."

Thursday

Kenja would be leaving later today, they had managed to make a preliminary agreement for their peace treaty. Ling had decided yesterday while they were in negotiations that he liked and trusted her enough to introduce her to his family.

After breakfast, he asked that she be summoned to his private rooms, so he let her meet Mei and his sons. She arrived, just a nervous as she had been on the first day, before he lead her into the sitting room. Mei bristled when she saw their visitor, but Ling lightly cuffed her head and told her to be nice.

After Mei had been settled, though grumbling in the corner, Ling asked the boys to be brought in to him. Kenja was then introduced to Huan Zhang Yao and Ping Yao. Ping, being ten weeks old, didn't care about the newcomer instead looking around until he spotted his parents and reached for them. Huan, on the other hand, was just as friendly to Kenja as he had been when Ling met him and climbed right into her lap to stare at her seriously.

She shot Ling a questioning glance at the child's behavior. Ling shrugged and said "He seems to like pretty much everyone. I don't know too much yet. He's only been here a week and a half. He did decide last night that Lan is 'Mama' though."

"I am certain I can convince him to call you Papa soon." Lan said with a smile.

"My luck, he'll decide that title goes to Ed when he gets here in a couple weeks." Ling grumbled good naturally. His best friend had arranged his deal for Ping and Ling had no fear that Ed was going to steal away his children, but he enjoyed joking about it with Lan Fan.

"Edward has his hands full with his own son and country Ling. He doesn't want to steal yours." Lan Fan said with a small smile.

"Edward?" Kenja asked.

"Edward Elric. He is coming to my coronation as an official representative of Amestris. I intend to negotiate trade with them." Ling said. "I met Ed while across the desert and he became a friend. He's my age actually, but fairly important in his government as is his father who is also coming"

"I see. Well then, best of luck with the negotiations." She said as she smiled down at the child. A few moments later she managed to talk him off her lap and into Mei's. She didn't want to say anything that could hurt the peace talks, but children that she didn't know made her uncomfortable. She was not one to feel the pull of motherhood. Her friends and advisors assured her that it would change as she grew older and that she was still young. She hoped so because she knew she was expected to produce at least one heir, if not for the throne then for her clan.

Shortly after that, she asked to be excused to finish making preparations for her departure. Ling agreed, but reminded her to be back in the city in a month. She and her highest ranking clan members were to be here for Ling's coronation at which time he would announce their treaty making it official.

After they had seen Kenji off, along with her guards, he asked his siter and wife once more what they thought of his plan. Mei seemed more hopeful of it working now than she had when he presented it, but still thought it was going to be a difficult battle that could possibly lead to a civil war if certain factions felt he was upsetting the old ways too greatly.

Lan Fan remained impartial to the plan, stating as she had several times, that she was too new to politics outside of protection to give a fair opinion. Both Ling and Mei assumed that meant she agreed with Mei but didn't feel right siding against her husband. Ling was a bit frustrated with their opinion, though he admitted to himself it was his concern as well. As long as he could win over the majority it shouldn't matter. He just needed to hope that most of his people wanted to change the way things were done.

So far as he had seen he felt he had a fairly decent chance. He admitted to himself that he was counting on Edward's arrival with his remarkable appearance to the Sage to help sway them. It was after all a factor in why Ling himself originally spoke to Ed. He knew it had a lot to do with why Mei sought them out as well.

Ling just hoped it all worked according to plan. Since there was nothing more he could do about it now though, he decided to spend the rest of the weekend spoiling and bonding with his children. Huan and Ping were always a joy to spend time with for him, and unlike with what he saw with Yuery, Ling had the benefit of being busy enough that he rarely had to see the cranky side of things. Ling wasn't entirely sure that was the way he wanted things, but he had made his choices and had to live with them.

He was not going to be able to be as involved in his care for his boys as Ed got to be with Yuery, but he refused to be as distant as his own father or anywhere close to it. Ed and Roy were the framework on which he was basing his role as a father. Truthfully, he didn't know many fathers. In his clan growing up, most of the fathers doubled as guards and soldiers and were rarely around. Fu had been the closest he had seen to a father before he'd gone west and the man was not comforting. He loved his granddaughter, but he also expected her to do her duty without fail.

No, Ling wanted to not be a father but rather a Dad. He was sure he could pull it off, as long as he balanced everything carefully. He needed to make the most of times like this, Huan was sitting on the floor next to him as he held Ping in his lap. He was reading them a story book and cuddling them. After this he intended to take them for a walk in the garden, and then sneak down to the kitchen to steal some snacks and let Huan play with the girl who had come to live here with him, Boa.

Ling had done this a couple of times last week and over last weekend. He had found that Boa was a rather shy but charming child. She preferred to stick close to Ai and followed her around the kitchen happily. Ling was trying to think up a better solution for the two of them. It didn't seem right to him to keep Huan's aunt as a kitchen aide, it was a matter of finding a better placement for them both.

He would eventually think of something he vowed as he watched the little girl happily play with the toddler and stare in fascination at the baby. He asked her if she wanted to hold Ping and she stared at him wide eyed before nodding slowly. So he instructed her to sit down and placed the baby in her lap. He chuckled as he envisioned Ed twitching over the way she held the tiny boy as he adjusted her hold.


	4. The Zhao Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the most part, it seemed that his siblings had lost the race with far more grace than he had expected from them. It made him realize he had a very narrow point of reference. After all he wasn't alone in the suffering he had endured by the nature of being born a prince

The Zhao Prince

Monday

Ling awaited word that Takeshi Zhao had reached the imperial city. By noon he was concerned that yet another clan had been attacked en route to see him. Perhaps he should cancel the other two visits, or at least insist they remain here until everything was settled.

By two the guards around the city confirmed that no one had been attacked near by, nor was anyone en route. This annoyed him. Why confirm the invitation and then not come? Why not send word you were cancelling at least. Xing did have phone lines after all, it wasn't impossible to call. Ling made a mental note to discuss international phone lines while he had people here for his coronation.

He hoped it could be arranged, it would make conversations with foreign leaders easier, and he would be able to stay in contact with Mei when he sent her back to study alchemy/teach alchestry. He would also be able to call and bother Edward. Ling didn't deny to himself this was a perk. He did miss annoying his friend. Occasional parenting advice would be nice too. Like was it normal for Ping to drool so much? Who was he supposed to ask around here, he was supposed to know everything.

When five rolled around and Takeshi still had not arrived, Ling wrote off the meeting as bad luck and returned to his apartments to stew about the wasted day. He hated wasting time. He preferred to always be busy, that way he didn't have the time to think about the things that have happened. Thinking too much leads to nightmares and insomnia.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, as Ling read through some paperwork before bed after the children were asleep and the women had retired for the evening. He sensed the intruder of ill intent around eleven. The person slipped silently down the hall toward the bedrooms containing his wife and sons. Ling stood and followed just as silently. Whoever they sent was not trained in sensing, luckily for Ling. It made slipping up behind them easier.

Not that it would have done them much good, as Ling had learned to mask his presence thanks to his time with Greed. He had tested it with Lan Fan and the palace guards and knew that it worked well. He meant to show Mei and Lan Fan how to do it soon, but for now was enjoying the unique ability to slip around completely unseen.

The intruder, Ling suspected an assassin, paused outside the bedrooms. Now was the moment of truth. If he entered Ling's rooms Lan Fan would have him pinned within moments. If he went further and entered Mei's she too would have him down. Ling assumed both women were aware of the intruder by now.

Ling's blood boils when the intruder turned to the nursey. Ling rushed forward, still silent, as they reached for the door, dagger in hand. They never had a chance to turn the knob before Ling had them pinned to the ground and Lan Fan had a knife to their throat. Ling took half a second to appreciate why he loved his wife so much.

He pulled the mask off of the intruder to reveal a middle aged Xingese man. Lan Fan passed him some rope, improvised from the ties of the drapes in their room. He tied the man's hands together behind his back, making sure to place a thick cushion between them and tied into place as well, just in case the man was an alchemist.

Afterward he pulled the man into a sitting position and nodded to Lan Fan. She knocked once at the nursey door, which opened just enough for Mei to poke her head out and give an all clear gesture before closing it again. They couldn't count on there not being a second intruder lingering around so Mei would stay with the boys until Ling and/or Lan Fan could take over.

Ling crouched down in front of the man and with his signature smirk and serious tone said calmly. "I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you were mixed up in your directions and were seeking my chambers. Because if I were to assume you in fact knew who sleeps behind that door I would be inclined to deal with you myself and for go the trial. That said, I want to know who sent you. Now."

"I will tell you nothing." The man said in response, making Ling sigh. It was as Ling expected but that didn't make it less annoying.

"Name. Now," Ling growled, with a name he could track the rest of the information he needed.

The man refused to answer, but Ling hadn't really expected him to. Ling rolled his eyes and gestured for Lan Fan to call the guards. She slipped away, silent as a ghost, and Ling leaned slightly closer to the man. "I will find out who send you, it will just be easier on you if you tell me now. I am beginning to lose my temper here, and am beginning to rethink my assumption."

"The layout of the royal apartments hasn't changed in over two hundred years." The man replied, clearly attempting to taunt Ling into killing him before he could be questioned further. It didn't work. Ling wanted to know who sent him far too much to fall for the trick. Though it meant he no longer felt obligated to be gentle in any way with the man. As such Ling casually punched him in the face.

"A wise man would just tell me who hired them to attack my children in their beds."

"Prince Huan is an interloper who had no right to raise his station to direct heir."

"Prince Huan had no say in the matter, as I chose to absorb his clan into my own. Nor is he the next heir." Ling said calmly. "So you are admitting then that you were hired to kill a baby."

"Yes. No wait." The man said as Ling pulled him roughly to his feet, and punched him again in the stomach.

"I am going to ask one last time, before I let my wife take over questioning. Trust me, she's the scary one. Who sent you?"

The man simply laughed and Ling stepped back to allow Lan Fan to take over. He walked a little way down the hallway, before calling out quietly "My love, if you intend to use you usual interrogation technics might I suggest relocating to somewhere more sound proof…and easier to clean up."

The man scoffed, after all this woman was the new princess. It was doubtful she was trained in torture technics. Even less likely than the prince. It was generally left to personal guards to receive training in those things. He was almost certain the Yao clan was among those who had done away with such things anyway. Before he could consider it further though, Ling added "Forgive my rudeness. You may be unwilling to introduce yourself properly, I however, was better raised than that. Allow me to introduce my wife and former bodyguard, Lan Fan Yao."

The man's eyes widened slightly to learn she was once his guard. This made things a lot more frightening, but he still refused to speak. Lan Fan said nothing as she began dragging him down the hallway, when he realized she had a metal arm. This frightened him a bit more. He had heard of automail, but never seen it. There was talk though of it being a powerful weapon in the land across the sand.

Mei Chang then made an appearance right beside Ling to say just loud enough for the man to hear. "Many pardons Brother. Should you be willing to sit with the children until the Nurse returns I am willing to assist Lan Fan in the interview. I am very well versed in questioning technics and have been meaning to test the pain threshold of qui."

That was the final straw as the man agreed to tell them whatever they wanted to know. All three of them were relieved as they were not entirely comfortable with following through with the threats they had been making. Mei had been mostly bluffing, though she wasn't going to let anyone in on that.

Friday

Ling was once again waiting for Takeshi Zhao, this time he was certain his wayward brother would arrive however, because the palace guards had gone to collect him and any members of his clan who had been trained in combat.

The assassin had admitted to having been sent by Zhao, to eliminate not Ling but his heirs in hopes of reopening the competition. The Emperor had decided he would leave the situation to Ling to handle. Though his behavior was not strictly speaking against the laws, it was a violation of the rules their father had laid down for the competition. Since Ling had already won, and it was considered over, it was decided this could be Ling's first official act as crown prince.

Ling had hoped for a better outcome for his peace negotiations than he was receiving so far. One yes, one adopted by default, and one assassination attempt. If the next two were not in favor of the treaty he wasn't sure how to handle it. He had assumed, that like him, most of his siblings would be tired of the constant fighting. It seemed he had overestimated the decency of his siblings and their people.

He hadn't given up yet, he would make changes to his country, even if he had to force it, he still held a sliver of hope that he could pull this off peacefully. Heh ad seen enough warfare to last a lifetime before his sixteenth birthday. Which he would be celebrating in a few months. Suddenly, he felt very old.

He was once again sitting in his throne room, surrounded by loyal guards, when Takeshi Zhao was brought into the room in chains. The remainder of his army was awaiting their fate out in the courtyard, to be interviewed by his sister. Takeshi refused to kneel, standing proudly as he could muster with the way he was being held.

Ling stared at him for a long time, but Takeshi didn't so much as flinch. Finally, Ling spoke loudly and clearly. "I invited you here weeks ago, to negotiate a better future for yourself and your clan. I received your response Monday. Now I simply ask, do you speak for just yourself, or for your clan, when you plead your case?"

"I speak for myself and my loyal subjects, who realize as I do that I am the rightful leader of this country, not my idiot younger brother who bought his way into his birthright with shiny trinkets and irresponsible behavior."

"Very well, consider your clan in your answers then." Ling said, doing his best to sound bored with the whole thing like Greed had taught him. "I would exile you Brother but you would simply attempt to repent to get to my children again. Therefore I am sentencing you to twenty years in prisoned. The same goes for your advisors. I shall interview your clansmen before further sentencing."

Takeshi bowed a smirk still on his face, as he was certain some of his men would be able to break him out of the prison. It was always a possibility that this first attempt failed after all. He was led from the throne room, and Ling sighed heavily before he announced he would be interviewing as many a possible today.

He had decided early on though, that some of the interviews would be lead by Mei. She was already underway in questioning them. It was several headache filled hours before they had finished with the people being held in the courtyard, then they moved on to the rest of the clan, interviewing as many as possible of the clan's two hundred today so they wouldn't have to spend the entire day interviewing tomorrow.

It was late afternoon, when it was announced they had no further people to talk to, but he was hopeful that there seemed to be a rough majority on his side, but that didn't make him less annoyed by this issue. His sons were safe at the moment which is what mattered most to him. He considered his options before he began making calls.

As their leader was out of the way, most of the clan was willing to be absorbed into new clans. Provided Ling could find a place for them all. Now he had the unpleasant task of calling the safer neutral clans to see how many would being willing to absorb new members. He wasn't about to add them all to the Yao Clan or ask Mei to add them to the Chang.

It was still his plan to talk to everyone who was willing to listen about a mass treaty, this was a minor set back. Which didn't seem as terrible as it had at first in light of the conversations he'd had today. Many of his lesser known siblings and/or the representatives seemed far more open to his ideas than he feared. In the end, he was able to find a solution for everyone involved and there had been promises to keep an eye out for further trouble.

For the most part, it seemed that his siblings had lost the race with far more grace than he had expected from them. It made him realize he had a very narrow point of reference. After all he wasn't alone in the suffering he had endured by the nature of being born a prince. Once he had made it tiredly back to his rooms, he was happy to spend the remainder of the night with his wife and children.

Prison Cell

Takeshi was annoyed. It was taking longer than he had expected for any of his agents to arrive to release him. At this rate he was going to have to spend the night in a cell. Him! He was a prince, he didn't belong in a cell, he belonged on the throne. If only that idiot out East had actually been willing to give him the information he had demanded.

Takeshi had gone so far as to leave the continent to find the answer to his father's riddle. He had looked into every avenue he could find even going so far as to look into magic. He had been so close to the answer. He knew he had been. Then word came in to return because the race had been won.

Takeshi was livid. He had gone further than anyone else, tried harder than anyone else, and had been within months of success. What exactly had the Yao brat done to win anyway? Befriend some alchemist and buy out their sister from what he understood of it. Where had he suffered? What had he done to earn it?!

Worse, he brought in an heir cementing their father's acceptance, and then he went and adopted their youngest brother. Their youngest brother, who literally had done nothing to win a place in the palace was now above him in the line! Unacceptable. He heard now, from what was being said around the palace and from what Yao himself had suggested, that Yao intended to end tradition.

If Yao got his way, none of them would ever have a chance to win again. His clan would have to settle for never having another Emperor unless some future idiot was willing to summit to marrying into the Yao clan. As if any descendant of his would be that weak willed. Yao was going to lead their people to ruin, and it was up to Takeshi to stop him. Clearly he had somehow bewitched their father into agreeing to his terms, and apparently at least one or two of their siblings, but the battle was far from over.

If Takeshi had to take out the entire Yao clan to stop this madness so be it. They weren't exactly the strongest clan but his clan was unique in that they had something no one else seemed to carry in their blood. Magic. Very rarely did they actually bother to train in it, instead they would be trained to use the magic to make their alchestry stronger, but Takeshi had gone ahead and trained under a magic school just long enough to get a hang of it and to hear the right rumors to find his father's riddle.

Now, this idiot Yao, who as it turned out wasn't even an alchestrist, claimed the prize. Takeshi knew his thoughts had grown circular then. Part of him wondered if magic had been the wrong way to go after all, and maybe if he had looked at alchemy instead he would have won to begin with. It was too late for what ifs though. Soon it would be late enough for him to fall asleep, and tomorrow he would escape himself since apparently his clanmen had abandoned him. They would suffer for their disloyalty. He would be sure of it.


	5. The Wang Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the first time in a long time Naoko felt relieved. Ever since their father had declared the race on, Naoko had been dealing with the stress over keeping his clan safe. He had traveled to Aerugo and Creta himself in search of an answer. When he received word that Ling Yao had won, he had hoped that Ling was still as kind as he had remembered.

The Wang Prince

Monday

Naoko Wang was the eldest of the siblings Ling had invited to these talks. Ling had voiced his hopefulness for the prince's approval to his wife and Mei last night after he received word that Wang clan had been the one to absorb the largest number of the Zhao clan, taking the 53 children and elders that would need care thanks to their parent's/children's involvement in Takeshi's plotting.

Ling was still surprised when he was woken by an aide just after five to inform him that Naoko had arrived in the city, and was ready to meet with Ling at Ling's earliest convenience. Ling had gotten up then, and dressed, before eating breakfast with Huan and going over the paperwork involving the transfer of prisoners to the imperial prison, before he finally went down to the throne room just after six.

Naoko was waiting in the courtyard, but seemed surprised Ling had been willing to see him so soon. He had arrived early, mostly so that his aides could arrange transport to their new clan members and had wanted to be sure to inform the palace of his presence so there would be no concern about his behavior. He expected Ling to be on edge after last week.

Neither brother met with what they had expected, instead were pleasantly surprised by each other's easy demeanor. After the initial introductions, that included a gold wrapped figurine of the Sage of the West , Ling invited Naoko to join him for a walk around the garden. He sensed no ill will from Naoko.

Naoko waited until they were a bit away from the palace before he spoke " I have heard from Kenja that you seek peace between the clans. Is this true?"

"I- Yes that is my intent." Ling said, surprised she had said anything about it, after all he had asked her not to spread it around to avoid anyone trying to undermine his planning before he managed to take the crown.

"Kenja and I have been friends for a great many years, our clans have come to a peaceful accord. She would not have mentioned your plan to anyone else." Naoko said sensing Ling's line of thought. "Now. How are you intending to make this unifying happen? I assume you have decided to leave us in charge of our own clans as Kenja didn't mention anything."

"Yes, you will remain leader of your clan, I have no desire to remove you from your seat. I am hoping to end the fighting we all grew up enduring. I don't expect it to happen overnight." Ling said with a tired sigh.

Naoko nodded, smiling. Ling was just as Kenja described. For the first time in a long time Naoko felt relieved. Ever since their father had declared the race on, Naoko had been dealing with the stress over keeping his clan safe. He had traveled to Aerugo and Creta himself in search of an answer. When he received word that Ling Yao had won, he had hoped that Ling was still as kind as he had remembered.

If anything Ling was kinder. That he intended to leave his siblings in charge of their clans whenever possible was a relief. He had gone into this willing to step aside should that be the price of this treaty. He would have packed away into the desert himself if that's what it took. Fortunately for him that wasn't what Ling was asking. With this in mind, he turned to Ling and asked "If it is no trouble may I send for my family to join us in the palace? They are in the city."

"Of course. Just let your guards know the numbers and they will have the maids arrange it. " Ling replied. After last week, he had agreed to have a guard placed on anyone he had not yet approved.

"Very well. Thank you, my lord."

"Please. Call me Ling. We are brothers after all, we should try to get along." Ling said with a smile.

"Then please call me Naoko."

Tuesday

The aides informed Ling that Naoko's family had arrived the evening before, but he waited until morning before inviting his brother to join himself and his family in the dining hall to introduce themselves informally.

Ling, Lan Fan, Mei, Huan, and Ping were in the hall, Ping in Ling's lap and Huan in Lan Fan's. Naoko entered first, followed by three women, and a baby. Ling stood to greet his brother who bowed in return before introducing the family behind him. Erity was introduced as his wife, a young lady about the same age as Naoko who was holding the baby, who was introduced as Naoko's daughter, Emiyo. Emiyo was nine months old. Standing next to Erity was Jia, who as it turned out was Naoko's second wife. The third woman, standing behind the others was Naoko's mother, Nayida. She was fairly young looking, Ling would guess she was in her early thirties. Of course, if he had to guess he would place Roy Mustang in his mid twenties, so that meant very little.

Once the two families had settled back into their seats, the servants departed and everyone relaxed slightly. Guards still lined the walls, but these men had grown up with guards around them constantly, so they hardly noticed. Ling introduced Ping as his Heir and Huan as his second son which made Naoko smile, since it was no secret where the second boy had come from he was pleased to hear Ling intended to raise the boy as his own instead of 'just' a ward which they had both seen far to many times in there childhood.

Lan and Mei soon were caught up in conversation with Erity and Jia. Long was equally relieved to note that Naoko did not seem to favor one over the other with them. Nayida was quiet throughout the meal, but Ling assumed it may be strange to return to the palace. As far as he knew none of his father's wives returned once they had produced an heir.

They lingered over brunch, enjoying each other's company, and Ling hoped that he and Naoko could perhaps become friends in time. Nayida smiled mostly through out the exchange, which relieved Ling, hoping that she was comfortable in his presence. She still had not spoken, but then, Ling remembered the one time they had gotten summoned as a group when he was a child the mothers had all been very quiet, even his own. It still made him sad sometimes that she was gone, he hoped she would have been proud of him.

Ling was relieved that the younger women were not silent as the mothers had been. He hoped that never changed. Lan Fan had been hard to convince that it was okay to relax and allow the guards to watch over them, especially after last week, so he was especially relieved she was happily exchanging advice with Erity.

Before too much longer Ling reluctantly interrupted to invite Naoko to join him in the office so they could put their pact to paper and make it official. The jovial mood left the room momentarily as the men stood and excused themselves, before the women returned to their conversation, all pretending they weren't concerned about the peace talks.

With Ling and Naoko out of the room, Nayida joined the conversation, adding her own advice on childcare. Lan Fan and Mei then told the women stories about their time abroad, both being sure to make it sound like Ling and Lan Fan had had a long romance without the pressures of the kingdom.

Mei also was quick to point out that she had mostly traveled separately from her brother, though they had back dated their own treaty several months. It was still important to be sure everyone knew they hadn't set out to work together, or it could be used against Ling's claim. Truthfully, they hadn't worked together so it wasn't a lie either.

Wednesday

Lan Fan, Jia, and Erity had agreed to walk through the gardens together, so with the babies safely left to their Nurses the woman had disappeared shortly after breakfast. Ling and Naoko were glad to see their wives getting along so well. They both hoped it was a good sign for their clans in general. Both clans were to be informed today of the peace treaty. The Chang clan was to be informed as well, but Mei would be taking care of that.

Jia and Erity had been friends for years before either of them had become Naoko's wife. They had also both been engaged to him for a long time. Their families had arranged the whole thing, though luckily they all found they got along well.

When Lan Fan admitted Ling had been her only real friend growing up, though it was also her job to watch over him, both of the other woman agreed. Jia had pointed out that Naoko had been her best friend as long as she could remember. In fact, she had been bothered at first when her mother told her they were engaged because he had always been her friend. Of course she had been young at the time, only twelve.

Erity had not been as close to Naoko, but had grown up with him as well. They all agreed it was far better instead of being wed to someone you barely knew. Each of them were well aware that their own parents tended to meet just before their weddings.

Jia admitted that she had been nervous traveling to the imperial city. Though polygamy had been the norm at one time in Xing, the practice had largely died out in the last century. In fact, outside of the Emperor, there were only two clans that actively practiced polygamy. Likewise only five of the clans still participated in arranged marriages outside of the royal family.

Lan Fan had grown up in a royal household, as a servant, but still in a royal household, therefore it was not a subject that seemed strange to her. In fact she was still surprised and not totally convinced that Ling meant it when he said she was going to be his only bride. She didn't inform the other women of this, Ling had insisted they not announce that information to anyone before he was the leader of their country. Probably not for a few months after. She understood his reasoning and agreed that he was upsetting enough traditions just with the treaties.

She was quick to assure Jia (and Erity) that she didn't look down on them for their marriage however, she liked these women and didn't want there to be any hard feelings. She was also quick to change the subject by showing off her automail.

Automail was almost completely unheard of in Xing, so both women were fascinated with her arm. She had used this a lot since returning home to deflect conversations. Ling and Lan Fan had talked about it and agreed that automail was one of the things Ling was going to ask for in the Amestrian treaty. Jia asked how much of her arm was metal and Lan Fan admitted the entire thing up to the shoulder.

"Does it make childcare more difficult? Is it harder to hold the baby?" Jia asked.

"No I can hold him just fine. However, I was unable to nurse him due to the medications I am forced to take." Lan Fan said, thankful for this cover story. It was what they had used to explain why the boy had needed a wet-nurse when they arrived at the palace, and why he had been drinking bottles before that.

"Oh my, that must be terrible for you." Erity said with sympathy.

"I accepted it. He is strong and healthy. A wonderful child." Lan Fan replied. "Ling's friend fortunately was around to show me how to properly prepare his bottles when he was born. "

"Well that's good." Jia said, though sounded confused.

"Ling became friends with an alchemist during our travels. He has a son, who is now just over a year old. Tragically, the child's mother died when he was very small, so he was forced to feed the baby bottles." Lan Fan explained.

The other two nodded in understanding and sympathy. Lan Fan then decided it would be best to return inside to their children. It was nearly time for Huan's nap, and she liked settling him though the nurse was more than capable. She agreed with Ling that she enjoyed taking care of the boys herself whenever possible.

Friday

The Wang family prepared to leave the palace, though they would be remaining in the city, this close to the coronation. They had one final breakfast with the Yaos. Everyone agreed that they wanted to stay in touch, and not just for the sake of the treaty.

Ling was relieved. He had enjoyed his brother's company, as had Mei, and it was good to know that Naoko had enjoyed the visit as well. It renewed Ling's hope that these talks would go well, and the treaties could last.

He only had one more meeting set for next week, before the foreigners started arriving and he had to switch focus to them. After that though, he hoped to arrange more meetings with his siblings. Not that he wasn't looking forward to the meetings with the others. He was especially excited to see Edward again. It had been too long, he decided, as he watched the wangs depart before returning to his office area to secure the treaties and complete the daily paperwork before going in search of his family.


	6. The Li Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He passed the baby carefully into her arms, and watched her closely as she adjusted her hold to shift the baby into a slightly more comfortable position. He suddenly regretted making fun of Edward's overprotective nature as he casually 'suggested' she would be more comfortable sitting with the baby rather than standing. She waived off his suggestion, and he cringed. He managed to hold off before quoting Edward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The return of Chen Li was by special request from CAB. Here you go. Enjoy

The Li Princess

Monday

Chen Li arrived on time, and was joined by an exasperated looking guard fifteen minutes after her arrival. Apparently she made a habit of seeing how far she could push her body guards before they snapped and quit. Ling had heard about this when he was younger, but was unaware of her still being in the practice.

When the guard finally arrived Chen consented to entering the throne room, as she had decided to wait for the man in the garden to make it easier to find her. Ling had been receiving regular updates on the matter. As he was also in the habit of slipping away from his guards, he couldn't really blame his sister for her behavior. Though he had never considered pushing them to try to get them to quit.

Once they had exchanged greetings, and she had presented him with her gift, a red dragon, she got right to the point. "I have heard already that it is your intent to unite the clans, leaving their current leadership in tact. Is this correct?"

"Yes it is. I understand that some may take issue with my proposal as I managed to win the throne all of us were competing for, but I believe it is for the good of our country to unite the clans and end this war."

"I agree. I remain leader of my clan, tensions lower, maybe I can finally convince my advisors that I do not need constant guards. I'm fifteen, nearly sixteen years old and have been in charge of my clan for four years. I know how to defend myself." Chen said. "So, do we have papers already to sign or do they need to be written up? I of course want to read them over to be sure it is for the benefit of my clan as well as yours."

"I will have the papers delivered to your room, so that you may go over it before we sign." Ling said, before allowing himself a smile. "I am glad you are willing to consider the agreement."

"I had hoped whoever won the race would be willing to do something like this. I wasn't involved in the race myself. I rather thought Father was teasing us. I gave up on the idea that the philosophers stone being anything but a fairy tale a couple of years ago."

"The stone is real enough. It's what I gave him." Ling said, forgetting he had decided not to say anything in his surprise. He had no idea Chen hadn't been involved in the race.

"I went to Amestris a few years ago in search of more information and all I ever heard was rumor. Of course, I wasn't there very long, and my escort while I was there was rather hostile, still. I had assumed it just wasn't anything but a children's tale after my time there."

"It's a shame your escort was so hostel. If you ever wish to return, remind me to invite my friends to show you around. They had been a great help to me in my time there."

By now they had left the throne room, and had carried their conversation out into the garden. Chen nodded along, after all she had found the Amestrians overall to be helpful, even her escort was helpful. He just wasn't very nice, and seemed to blame all of the misfortunes the befell them on her. She made sure to point this out to Ling so he wouldn't think she disliked their neighbors, especially if he had friends over there.

"I think overall everyone was nice, I'm sure it was easy enough to find a helpful guide. Mu own guide was helpful enough, he just had a tendency to blame things on me and yell a lot. If you ever have a chance to visit again, I'd avoid asking for someone named Edward Elric as a guide. In fact, if I were you I'd ask for a different one if that's who they name."

Ling choked on air as he tripped when she said Ed's name. He recovered quickly before clearing his throat. "I found Ed to be a bit abrasive but overall helpful myself."

"You've met Edward?"

"Yes, he was the one I mentioned earlier. He's one of my closest friends actually. He can be a bit abrasive when you first meet him, but he grows on you quickly."

"Hmmph. Perhaps. We were twelve at the time, I'm sure he's matured by now."

"He does still yell a lot. Well when his son isn't around. It upsets the boy for people to yell so he tends to keep it to himself if the boy is in the room."

Chen can't imagine Edward as a father. Her memory of him was still frozen on the twelve year old who tackled her to prevent her from traveling the other direction. After blaming the entire fiasco on her. Repeatedly. She would love to see him again though, if only to tease him again about the whole thing.

Ling left her then to be escorted back to her room where the treaty was sitting for her to read and decide if she agreed to the terms. Ling had invited her to join him and his family for dinner that evening. She had arrived on time, without her guard for dinner later that evening. Lan Fan, Ling, and Mei met her for dinner, but the children had been left in their apartment with the nurse to feed them and get them settled in for the evening.

The evening started calmly and happily enough until she realized that she was talking to an alkahestry expert. Chen lit up immediately in a way that would scare most people. Team Mustang had been immune to it, and it was the one thing Edward seemed to be on the same page as her over, though he had told her it would take too long to teach her. Perhaps she could convince Mei though.

Wednesday

Chen had signed the treaty after carefully reading it and deciding it was in the best interest of her people. Ling was glad to learn that she was happy with it all. Chen came from one of the larger clans, with medium influence and money. She had come to an agreement with Mei on training, and would be staying in the palace for the next few months to begin her training.

As such, instead of the temporary guest suite she had started out in, she was now in an apartment on the same floor as Ling and Mei. The third apartment suite on this floor had been set aside at Ling's insistence, for the Amerstrian party that would be arriving in a few days. Chen had asked if Alphonse would be coming as well when Ling mentioned Edward was part of the party.

She had missed the glare sent her way from Mei, but was disappointed to learn that Alphonse would not be joining them because he was still recovering. She was happy to learn he had regained his body. A secret she had been privy to only because of their unplanned camping trip. She considered Al a friend, they had even exchanged letters for awhile, though they had piddled out over a year ago now. It was much her fault as Al's, she wasn't good at keeping up with correspondence. Edward also had not been informed of who Al's penpal was, or he probably would have written a few accusatory letters himself.

Mei had started her training this morning, beginning with testing Chen's knowledge of basic elements. After a couple hours of testing, Mei had said they were done for the day, and that Chen had a passing knowledge of the basics. Apparently, this was to be considered a compliment, but Chen was insulted. She'd studied every form of science she could find for years now.

Mei didn't seem to notice Chen's insult, though she did mention to their brother that they were going to need a second tutor to take over once Mei took up her new teaching post in a few months. Chen took that to mean she was an acceptable student and her irritation settled. There was no point in irritating another possible teacher and alienating them at this point. There was time enough for that later if Mei turned out to be a bad teacher.

Chen had learned one important fact from her time on holiday. Alchemists were high-strung. She was also pretty sure that Edward had been honest when he said he was refusing because it would take too long to teach her. After all, most complex disciplines take far longer than a week to learn. She planned to tease Edward when she got the chance though. He had been fun to rile up.

For today though, she was going to spend time with Ling and Huan and Ping. Ling was happy to learn she liked kids, since she was going to be around for awhile as Mei's student. He actually compared her to a hungry Mei to Lan Fan the other night. Lan Fan had since agreed that she saw a bit of Mei in her. As well as some Ling. She insisted that Chen was mostly just herself. Ling agreed, but it didn't stop him from thinking of her as 'Hungry Mei'.

The four of them were wandering around the garden, letting Huan run ahead slightly, before Ling would step forward and draw the boy back over to them if he went too far out. Chen had offered to carry Ping for awhile, to make it easier for Ling to chase Huan. It was a sign of trust that Ling allowed it, one that he wasn't entirely comfortable making, but he WAS going to be right there next to her, and he sensed no ill will from her. He reluctantly agreed.

He passed the baby carefully into her arms, and watched her closely as she adjusted her hold to shift the baby into a slightly more comfortable position. He suddenly regretted making fun of Edward's overprotective nature as he casually 'suggested' she would be more comfortable sitting with the baby rather than standing. She waived off his suggestion, and he cringed. He managed to hold off before quoting Edward.

To smooth any hurt feelings, Ling quickly changed the subject to what little he knew about Alchemy. This worked rather well, and soon they were wandering back toward the palace. Chen promised to join them for dinner, and then disappeared into the city to check in on her people. She would be staying in the palace as once again her guards had mysteriously quit on her. Ling had accepted this with a completely blank face that hid his humor.

She was happy to Be here, soon in the presence of two great alchemists, but she wasn't going to seem to eager and ruin her leverage on the treaty negotiations. The treaty had been fair enough, and was already signed, but it still was the principle of the thing.

Friday

Chen finally swallowed her pride on Friday after breakfast and asked Ling directly if he had Alphonse's current address. Admitting that she had fallen out of touch with him. Ling simply wrote the information down without comment. As he passed the paper off though a thought occurred to him. Chen had admitted to intentionally annoying Edward, so it was to Ling's benefit that Ed not find out Ling gave her the information. It was inevitable he would learn the pair of them had been in contact, but Ling's involvement needed to not become general knowledge. Chen agreed and was gone before he could change his mind.

Ling had no choice but to devote part of his day to preparations for his upcoming coronation. This, unfortunately, meant spending more time with his father. He remembered once, when he was very young, he had hoped his father would notice him. That he would somehow stand out in the crowd at least long enough to tell Ling he loved him.

Ling had long ago given up on this idea. Their father didn't love any of them. He had no idea what the man thought of them, but clearly he didn't love them or he wouldn't be in this situation. He had been given a track device, as had every member of his new family, just in case someone were to try to force the throne from Ling via blackmail.

About an hour after Chen had left the palace, the device he had insisted she take with her just in case sounded the alarm. He jumped in shock at the sound, not expecting to hear anything of the sort as it then changed tones to let them know the location of the tracked object.

Ling wanted nothing more than to go retrieve his sister himself , but as crown prince he simply was not allowed to track her down himself. Instead he was given a sad, knowing, look,which he had become immune to over the years ( though it was fun for him to pretend it had been a challenge ) and left behind so that they could retrieve his sister, who appeared to be on the move should anyone see them.

He had sent twenty of the best palace guards after them. It wasn't for another hour before Ling received an update, and the update was deemed an accident. It was another twelve and a half minutes at this point when the men he sent out to retrieve his sister returned, Chen with them completely uninjured though appearing as though she'd been in a struggle.

She then bragged that she had untied herself and was most of the way through her kidnappers when his men arrived. They confirmed her story, and Ling thanked them before letting them leave the room. As soon as they were gone, Ling came around the desk and enveloped Chen in a hug. She stiffened at first before patting him awkwardly.

"You, dear sister, are precious to me. I do not wish to hear anything befall you. I reached out to our siblings who have agreed to the treaty, and they all expressed their concern. I should call them before the city is overrun with their men."

"I'm fine brother, it's hardly the first time something like this has happened."

"That does not make it any easier to learn someone took you, and the people in question were already wanted for war crimes. It made it a lot harder to get to them before it was too late. They are more likely to behave irrationally. I'm just glad everything worked out."

"I'm glad it worked out as well as did." Chen said. "The last six times I had to rescue myself. I decided not to wait to see if they came to check on you. "

Ling was once again reminded of Mei and her casual air for the realities of the violence of their people. This was a large part of the reason he wanted to make these changes. He never wanted his sons to be like this, his sisters and he himself were far too use to threats and violence. He'd joined into a foreign war as if it had been a casual game and never flinched! His sister who was so young did the same. He couldn't allow another generation to suffer as they had.


	7. Arrival of Amerstrian Dignitaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So, apparently one of my sisters, who agreed to the treaty, already knows you Ed." Ling said as they all finally sat down.
> 
> "Mei?" Winry asked, she couldn't think of any others Ed might know.
> 
> "No, well yes Mei, but another one. I'm sure you remember her, you left an impression after all. Chen Li."
> 
> Ed stiffened at the name. He turned the shade of red that usually proceeded screaming. He shook slightly, then turned to Roy. "I swear to Truth, if you side with her again I'm going to scream. Then I'm going to leave and move back to Dublith."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Duchess67 for pointing out the error to me

Arrival of Amerstrian Dignitaries

Monday

A carriage carried the Amestrian Dignitaries from the coast all the way through to the Imperial City. They had arrived on Saturday morning, followed by two days travel, breaking only to allow the riders to stretch briefly and use the restroom, and switch out the horses and driver. These were done at the same time. The carriage was constantly surrounded by guards.

Inside the carriage rode General Roy Mustang, his adjutant Lt. Colonel Riza Hawkeye, Colonel Edward Mustang-Elric, his mechanic Winry Rockbell, and his twenty- two-month-old son, Yuery Mustang-Elric. They had been selected by the crown prince Ling Yao intentionally when he sent the invitations. Edward and Ling had met the previous year and become friends rather quickly. Ling knew and respected Roy Mustang as well, as both Edward's commander and his father.

They had survived one of the most insane years in history together. Most of what happened was a complete secret. It was nice, in Ling's opinion, to have someone who knew what had really happened there to celebrate with him. He had missed his friend. He also hoped their sons could grow to be friends in time.

Of course, after two days stuck in a carriage he was not expecting Yuery to be in a very pleasant mood. He doubted any of them would be and intended to give them several hours to recover in their private apartment before he bothered them beyond the original public greeting. Having recently traveled the same distance with a young child, Ling regretted that they had not been given the luxury of a day's rest his own party had received. Even if that day had simply been to prepare his clan to join his march it had still helped to improve his son's mood.

As the carriage arrived at the steps of the palace, Ling, Lan Fan, and Mei awaited their friends at the top of the stairs. Dressed richly in the red robes of the Emperor's house, Ling suddenly felt out of place. As if his friend would fail to recognize him, or worse make fun of him. For all their power and privilege, they were teenage boys, not the men they were forced to be.

First out of the carriage, in full dress uniform, was Lt. Colonel Hawkeye, followed by Colonel Elric, then General Mustang. After a moment's pause, as if waiting for something to happen, Ms. Rockbell exited the carriage dressed in the most formal outfit Ling had ever seen her in. It was a dark blue suit, just a shade darker than the uniforms around her, the skirt down to just below her knees and her hair swept up in a clip identical to Hawkeye's. She held Yuery's hand as she helped his out of the carriage. He was dressed in a shortsuit that matched Winry's and had a very deep frown on his face even as he stared around in open wonder.

They slowly made their way up the stairs until they reached the future emperor where all three military officers saluted him formally, before bowing. He bowed in return, and lead them inside without a word as the crowd that had gathered clapped. Once free of the eyes of his countrymen, Ling finally smiled. "I arranged for you to have the day to rest before you are expected in my father's court. It's a formality at this point, as he has been slowly shifting control over to me the last few weeks. I plan to come see you after lunch if that is acceptable."

"Of course, thank you." Mustang said, tiredness around his eyes but missing from his voice. Hawkeye and Edward simply nodded. Ling raised a hand to have a servant step forward and lead his guests to their apartment.

"I assumed you would find it favorable to stay in the same rooms." Ling said as the servants carried in their luggage and Winry picked up the tired and angry toddler. "Rather than separate units."

"Thanks Ling." Ed said tiredly in a quiet voice. "We'll catch up later."

Ling nodded and watched the others disappear before he returned his attention to matters of the state. Hopefully he could get all of his work out of the way this morning so he could spend the afternoon catching up with his friends before politics completely took over their visit. Lan Fan and Mei smiled at him before disappearing to their own duties.

1:00 pm

Ling had changed into far less formal clothing before visiting his friends. He was now in a red jacket and white pants with his hair in a ponytail. He knocked on the door of their rooms waiting politely. He had told the nurse to wait thirty minutes, then bring the boys to him here in their apartment. He assumed that Ed would want to see Ping again, but didn't want to overwhelm the children with too many adults moving about.

Ed answered the door cautiously , before rolling his eyes and gesturing Ling to come in. "So when it's my house you just walk through the door, but when it's yours you knock? What's the logic in that?"

"To be fair, it's my father's house still." Ling said with a shrug. Ed rolled his eyes and led the way into the sitting room where the others were all sitting.

Now that he was dressed closer to his normal style, Yuery recognized him and with a delighted squeal ran over to be picked up. Ling glanced at Ed to be sure it was alright before reaching down and lifting the child. "Hi, Yuery. You've gotten heavier haven't you?"

"Lin, go bye. Far bye." Yuery replied. Looking very solemn. "Wada. Mama bye!"

"I know. It's a long trip." Ling said smiling down at the boy.

"He also mentioned all the water, and that Mama doesn't like it." Ed said with a smile.

"Oh have you officially been promoted to Mama now?" Ling asked Winry.

"I better be, since I'm marrying his father." Winry said holding out her hand to reveal the ring.

Ling was excited for his friends and made sure they both knew it with his enthusiastic hugs, before turning to Roy. "So are you guys getting married too?"

"What. The. Hell." Roy groused. "I even leave the country and can't get away from the harassment. I haven't even taken her out to dinner. I can't consider taking anyone out seriously until I talk to my boys and make sure its okay with them. Why is everyone trying to channel Hughes because that was his worst trait and-"

"We're okay with it Dad." Ed interrupted.

"And- what?"

"We are okay with it. You and Riza. Al and I talked about it and we hope you guys finally just admit you love each other." Ed said smugly, ignoring his father's flabbergasted expression and Riza's blush. He had promised himself he wouldn't bring it up, but since Dad and Ling were already talking about it, it was fair game.

"I- that is. I. Riza's my best friend, but I'm sure she has no real interest in-"

"Roy, would you like to go to dinner with me?" Riza asked. The only thing she had been worried about was the boys. He grandfather, who was currently the leader of their country, had all but insisted they were to be married, so she wasn't worried about that. She had loved Roy since they were children, and he had loved her, so she wasn't worried about that either.

Roy stared at her blankly, before it sank it what she had said and agreed. Ling rolled his eyes before whispering to Ed loudly. "Why are grown ups so much dumber than us anyway?"

"I don't know, but I swear I'm not getting dumb just because I get old. " Ed replied with a smirk.

"Hey! Says the boy who screamed his proposal loudly in a crowded train station by offering her an equal trade." Roy said with a playful frown.

"Well…I… Ling didn't even properly propose!" Ed said. "I heard him, he made it sound like a business transaction. He didn't even mention he loved her until they'd been married three days!"

"Okay guys. I think that's enough now." Riza said calmly. "I think we all agree you are all bad at feelings. We will work on that."

The men begrudgingly agree, more because they fear Hawkeye than actually agreeing with her but she can live with that. Winry had begun to develop an eye twitch as well, the one that meant Ed was in serious trouble. Roy wondered if her being his daughter in law meant he now needed to fear it as well.

A knock at the door announced the nurse's arrival, and Ling announced he would get it before skipping out of the room passing Yuery to Ed along the way. A few moments later he returned with Ping in his arms, leading Huan.

Winry stood to join Ed near the door and asked. "Who's this?"

Ling looked playfully insulted as he said. "This is Ping, he hasn't change that much in two months that you should recognize him Winry!"

"I meant him, goof." Winry said as Huan looked around before raising his arms to Winry to be held.

"That's my other new son, Huan. He's very friendly, you may hold him." Ling said and Winry picked the boy up. Yuery immediately frowned at the sight of his Mama holding another child, but his dad distracted him. "I began negotiations with the other clans as I had planned. Huan was one of three survivors of his clan. I adopted him officially, the other two are here in the palace."

"That's terrible." Winry said, sadly over the loss of the clan.

Ling nodded before adding. "Overall the talks went well. I had one show up clanless, one try to kill my children, and three that agreed to the treaty, so about as well as I expected."

"Wait, what?!" Ed said, suddenly rethinking leaving Ping in Ling's care.

"Pssh. They never got anywhere close to the boys. I sensed them as soon as they tried, as did Lan and Mei." Ling said. "He's been dealt with."

Ed relaxed, it wasn't like he could undo it anyway, nor would he really want to after seeing how much Ling loved the boy… though he was tempted to insist Ling bring his family and come back with him. He didn't want to see any of them hurt.

Huan slid back down and was wandering around the room with interest, and Yuery climbed down to join him. The boys were not quite at the age where they played together, but were both old enough to show interest it the other's presence. They were soon having a conversation in baby babble that left the grown ups completely out of the loop but seemed to be getting along.

Ling handed Ping over to Ed without waiting for Ed to ask, they both knew Ed wanted to hold the baby, and so did the others. At least Roy and Winry. Ling trusted them with his children, it seemed a fair trade after all the time Ed had trusted him with Yuery last winter.

"So, apparently one of my sisters, who agreed to the treaty, already knows you Ed." Ling said as they all finally sat down.

"Mei?" Winry asked, she couldn't think of any others Ed might know.

"No, well yes Mei, but another one. I'm sure you remember her, you left an impression after all. Chen Li."

Ed stiffened at the name. He turned the shade of red that usually proceeded screaming. He shook slightly, then turned to Roy. "I swear to Truth, if you side with her again I'm going to scream. Then I'm going to leave and move back to Dublith."

"Why Dublith?" Riza asked.

"He'd follow me to Resembool, but no one would follow me to Teacher's." Ed reasoned.

"Edward. I already explained, repeatedly. I wasn't siding with her, I was being diplomatic." Roy said tiredly.

"Diplomatic shouldn't mean siding with her, a girl you didn't even know, over me!" Edward said with a pout.

"To be fair, I didn't really know you yet either. You had only been under my command for two months at the time." Roy said.

"I feel there's a story here." Ling interjected.

"Yeah. It was all Chen's fault." Ed said, and the other Amestrians groaned. It had been years since the incident with Ed and Al being thrown from the train and forced to wander in the general direction of the city with a princess in tow, but Ed seemed to still be offended over the event. He hadn't brought it up in years, so it had to have been bringing the girl up.

"Well. She's currently staying in the palace, so I'll have to ask her about it since you won't tell me." Ling said. Ed immediately launched into his version of events before Chen could convince anyone else he had somehow been the one who was wrong.

Ling listened with amusement carefully hidden about the adventure his sister and best friend had endured. Apparently, she had forced him to go shopping, then started an argument on a train with some criminals and gotten them tossed overboard, and they spent a few days wandering down the train tracks. "She refused to apologize for any of it! If she would have just admitted she messed up and was wrong I would have gotten over it year ago." Ed concluded. "Oh and Dad sided with her without waiting to hear what happened."

"Edward, surely by now you understand that we can not tackle foreign diplomats no matter how annoying and badly behaved they are acting." Roy said patiently. He had heard this story many times, and had in fact read the very detailed report Edward had submitted, he even agreed with his son that it sounded like most of what happened could have been avoid had the princess not antagonized the criminals, but he also needed Ed to understand that he couldn't behave like that now that he was almost an adult and a Colonel.

Ed pouted in return. He agreed his behavior at the time would be considered unacceptable should the situation repeat itself, which was all the more reason to never travel with the girl again. He had matured since then, but unless she walked in here and admitted her mistakes he was not going to believe she had. He hoped he could just avoid her for the time they would be here, or at least only be forced to see her in gatherings.

Roy sighed. Edward had matured a lot in his time in the military, especially in the almost two years since he had become a father. Sometimes it was easy to forget his son was still only sixteen, and prone to impulsive behavior. Roy was lucky to have had the boys come into his life, nothing was going to change his opinion on that, but that didn't make taking care of them easy.

Ling, meanwhile, decided it was time to change the subject, and asked where Ed and Winry planned on living after they got married. It was not something the couple had discussed yet apparently because they both looked completely lost at the question. "They'll be staying right were Ed is of course." Roy said, watching both teens look relieved. "I see no reason for Edward and Yuery to move out when it would be far easier to move Winry in. In fact, we have a spare room, if Winry would like to move in when we return home so that she has one less thing to worry about as she sets up her new shop."

"If you're sure Mr. Mustang." Winry said with a smile.

"I'm sure on one condition. Stop calling me Mr. Mustang. I'm Roy or Dad to you young lady. After all you are marrying my son."

"Okay Mr. Roy." Winry said as she hugged him.

"…Close enough." Roy said as he returned the hug.


	8. The Princess and the Colonel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edward had known, realistically, that he was not going to be able to avoid Chen Li forever. He had hoped it would take more than twenty minutes

The Princess and the Colonel

Imperial Court

The next morning, far earlier than Edward wanted to get up after the long trip they'd just suffered, he joined Mustang and Hawkeye in getting ready to meet with Ling's father and current emperor of Xing. There was still two weeks until the coronation ceremony, and Ed had vowed to do nothing to upset any of Ling's careful planning. That included pretending not to notice a certain sister of Ling's who still owed him an apology.

Winry and Yuery were to join them when they were presented to the Imperial Court, but then she would be free to come back up to their rooms and spend the morning with her new step son, while the other three would be stuck meeting all the people who were deemed important enough to be involved in peace and trade talks.

Roy had just finished fixing all of the pins on Ed's jacket (Ed swore he would figure it out soon enough), when Winry appeared dressed in the same suit as yesterday, as was Yuery. Edward had used a cleaning array to press everyone's clothing last night and left it hanging for them all. Roy and Riza had been sure to thank him this morning.

Roy, Edward, and Yuery had shared one room, and Winry and Riza the other, as they had on the boat. Roy was ever watchful of appearances after all, and he had enemies who would make sure to get rumors back to Amestris long before Roy could stop them if they gave them anything to work with. Plus Roy would much rather Grumman and Madame learn about both the engagement and Roy and Riza from Roy rather than a tabloid. The others had agreed, when Ed and Winry felt the same way about Granny, Al, and Izumi.

Once they were all ready, they walked calmly out the door to be greeted by their guards, both Amestrian and Xingese. The trip to the throne room wasn't long, nor was the wait for them to be introduced. This time, instead of Winry leading the boy, Edward held his hand himself. He was not going to have anyone mistake his son for anyone else's this time if he could help it.

The Court was full, with Emperor Shi sitting high on the throne, with Prince Ling on his left, slightly lower, and the Princess Consort (Lan Fan) on Ling's left. Prince Huan and Prince Ping had been brought in for the occasion as well, and Ping had been set in an ornate cradle, while Huan sat in his new mother's lap. Princess Mei, Princess Chen, Princess Kenja, and Prince Naoko sat on their father's right, youngest to eldest, to indicate he approved of their treaties. Naoko's wives and daughter sat in the front just below the Dias along with his mother, as did Kenja's husband, Akira.

All of these would be introduced to Roy and Edward later, but for now they were to focus wholly on the Emperor and Crown Prince. Yuery was behaving remarkably well, much to Edward's relief. Sometimes the child was entirely too much like him. At times like that he almost wanted to apologize to his Dad and Mom about his behavior growing up. But never his father. His father didn't deserve anything from him.

The meeting officially began at this point, and Winry was able to slip away with the baby. She noticed that She wasn't the only one as she met Lan Fan in the hallway with Huan and Ping, and Naoko's wife and daughter. Lan Fan smiled at them both and invited them to join her and the boys in the garden.

Both Erity and Winry agreed, and followed the other woman outside. Winry was the only one of them not entirely used to being followed constantly, but after last winter she had a bit more experience with it than before. She supposed, as the future wife of one of the most famous men in Amestris, she would have to get used to the idea. After all at any given time a threat could be made that would put her back in the care of bodyguards.

Strangely the idea of it didn't scare her as much as it did when she was younger. Having spent so much time in the company of Roy and his team over the last year, she realized that she didn't hate them as much as she had when she was younger. For now though, she wanted to make a good impression on Ling's family.

The three women settled down to allow the babies the freedom to run around in a small fenced area Ling had ordered set up for the boys. It was still lavishly decorated, but it had a sand pit and several small climbing toys added to entertain them. Ling planned to update it as the boys grew. Winry knew as soon as Roy and Ed saw this, they would be adding something similar to their own yard.

Meanwhile, Shi had wasted no time picking apart the peace treaty Ling and the Mustang-Elrics had written. He was certain he would find fault in the boy's planning, but either Ling was better at this than Shi anticipated, or he was not the one who wrote it. Shi looked over the foreigners and decided the elder likely wrote it.

The treaty would run both communication lines and a railway across the desert connecting their countries for the first time. It would allow for easier trade and communication between them, and hopefully avoid any conflicts that may arise.

Aerugo and Xing already had a similar treaty, which was Shi's only concern. He would not want to lose an allay to gain one. Especially a historically chaotic one. Roy was quick to assure him that the peace talks between Aerugo and Amestris were going well, and a treaty for temporary alliance had been signed last month in preparation for a long term agreement.

With this out of the way, Shi turned the talks over to Ling to allow them to continue to work out the details. He had mostly tuned them out though was surprised to hear that they had agreed to trade alchemy secrets and that two of his daughters would be traveling abroad to begin the training.

Edward had not been informed of the second sister either, but managed to suppress his annoyed expression. He didn't care how much his brother whined. Chin was absolutely not staying with them. Ever. If that meant they had to arrange housing for both her and Mei so be it. Ed would be sure to talk to Roy about it later in private.

He could deal with a lot, the last few months had proven that, but he was not dealing with some spoiled little brat in his house. Ed apparently had brooded on the subject more than he had meant to, because the next thing he knew, Dad was elbowing him in the side to get his attention. Luckily it was not his bad side. He still offered a very frightening glare as he stood.

Roy rolled his eyes at his son's antics, before leading him out of the throne room, luckily no one had really noticed Ed's inattention aside from himself. He probably would have missed it as well, if he hadn't spent years lecturing the boy as Ed tuned him out. The expression shift was subtle but there for those who knew him well.

Imperial Garden

Edward had known, realistically, that he was not going to be able to avoid Chen Li forever. He had hoped it would take more than twenty minutes, and Ling dragging her along to meet up with Ed however.

Ling seemed completely oblivious to Edward's annoyance, though it was unlikely he hadn't seen it. Ling was extremely observant, he simply didn't care. Chen at least seemed as unhappy about being drug about as Ed was to see her. With a sigh, Ed decided to be the bigger person and stand to greet them. He took one last look at where his son was happily playing next to Ling's son and left the play area. "Your Majesty." Ed said with a bow toward Ling.

"You did NOT tell me we were meeting HIM, Brother." Chen said with a pout.

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there." Ed said with a smirk. "Perhaps it was the complete lack of manners."

"Surely not, since it is you who lacks manners." Chen replied.

Ling was impressed that they both managed to hold a diplomatic tone the entire time they were insulting each other. Unless someone spoke Amestrian they would be unaware of the argument taking place. Ling suspected that was the reasoning behind the false pleasantness. Still he couldn't risk it escalating, that would be taken as weakness by his father. "Alright guys, that's enough. Chen Dearest Sister of mine, did you not say that you wanted to tell Edward something for a long time now?"

"Oh yes, thank you." Chen said before standing as tall as possible, which still fell short of Ed by about three inches to his delight. "I deeply regret my rash statements that may have had you and your brother forcibly removed from the train when we were young. However, everything that happened after that was your fault."

"Oh wow, did you just almost apologize? Are you alright? Do you need to go lie down for a while, I know that must have been a strain" Edward replied. With that Ling relaxed. The matter had been resolved as best he could hope for with these two. At least until Edward found out about Chen being penpals with his brother, so hopefully well after they leave.

To insure they could avoid that knowledge coming out, at least for today, Ling quickly interrupted to say "Well, now that that's settled, Chen come meet Edward's son. Yuery Elric."

"Yuery Mustang-Elric." Ed said grumpily. He still wanted to argue but knew it was better to drop the matter. "Soon to be Yuery Mustang- Rockbell-Elric"

"Really?" Winry said from next to the boy with a beaming smile.

"Well, yeah. I mean I was kinda hoping you'd want to adopt him." Ed said scratching the back of his head as he often did when nervous. "I mean I meant to talk to you about it before saying anything to anyone but-"

"I would love to Ed." Winry said happily. "Besides he already decided I was his Mama, might as well make it legal."

Chen meanwhile had plopped down on the grass, uncaring of the stains to her dress, to play with the group of babies and toddlers surrounding her. Huan and Yuery toddled over, followed by a quickly crawling Emiyo. Ping waived an arm around briefly from his mother's arms after being left behind by the others before settling back into her chest.

Ed watched Chen playing with the three children who all seemed to adore her. At least children liked her, he decided. He would never count her among his friends, but he was no longer going to throw her in the enemy pile either. Not after the things he had seen and done.

She was a part of his childhood, probably one a the last parts. He didn't really want to know her, but he could accept that in the grand scheme of things…the truth was they had both been kids when it happened. His Dad was right, he had held this grudge too long.

That reminded him, Ed probably should swing by Resembool long enough to make amends with a couple of bullies from his childhood, provided they had grown up to be better people. If they were still thugs, then they could forget all about him being mature.

Winry decided not to ask what was going on inside Ed's head until they were in private because she knew that look well enough to know he was scheming but it had nothing to do with their current visit. Instead she sighed and distracted him by demanding to know if he had been oiling his leg.

Ed insisted he had, Winry didn't believe him, and Ling found the whole thing amusing. Chen asked politely if she could watch him oil the thing since she had never seen it done before. Surprisingly to everyone aside from Chen, Ed agreed. Chen knew from their trip before if she asked politely he usually said yes as long as something was possible…or she hadn't already pissed him off.


	9. The Arrival of the Kings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that the representatives of all four countries involved in this treaty had arrived, it was decided by the advisors the best solution was to throw a feast in honor of their guests and the prince

The Arrival of the Kings

Wednesday

The Aerugo Party and the Drachma Party were both to arrive this morning. Originally, the Drachma Party was to arrive tomorrow, however, to avoid a stormfront in the mountains they had moved ahead of schedule. The Aerugo Party had already departed by the time word had gone out of the change, therefore it was now impolite to attempt to stagger their arrivals beyond the two hours it seemed they would receive.

Among other things, this meant that they would need to remain in their formal uniforms and near enough the front hall to arrive before the procession. For Edward and Ling both this was annoying, as they were not fond of their formal uniforms. Ling reminded himself, and Edward, that they only had a few more days until coronation day, at which time the rest of Ed's stay could be spent casually.

Prince Claudio of Aerugo arrived first, with a line of carriages and guards in company. Only Claudio, and his personal guard would be in the palace, the remainder of his party would be housed through out the city. This was the cause of a brief argument that was settled with very little shouting, and the Amestrians stood off to the side throughout it. Neither of them, as only Edward and Roy attended, pointed out that their entire party was allowed in the palace…because they had brought a small party.

As it stood Claudio was mollified until the arrival of the Drachmans. Unlike Claudio, they arrived with just one car, and only the Tsar, Viktor himself, as well as three guards and his wife Anya. As such they were all allowed in the palace. Claudio had also somehow learned that the entire Amestrian party was being housed in the palace. He refused to listen to reason on the matter. After all both other parties were considerably smaller and all in one apartment each.

Finally, to prevent the negotiations from falling apart before they could begin Roy agreed to go talk to Claudio. Claudio had stopped complaining about the Drachmans when he learned it was just the leader and his wife being housed. Roy hoped to mollify him by pointing out that it was similar in their situation.

He walked into the conference room where the yelling could be heard, and cleared his throat. "Excuse me gentlemen. It appears the Prince has been misinformed of our situation and I felt it best to come correct the situation personally."

"Oh, so now we shall hear of the silver tongue of the great flame general. Tell me general why should your party be allowed to remain together, while mine has been dispatched throughout the city? Will there be another attempt on my life then?" Claudio demanded.

"Not at all sir. That is what I wanted to clarify. My party consist only of part of my family. My son, you might remember him, Edward Elric or Fullmetal as he is known professionally, his fiancée Winry Rockbell, a lovely girl. My grandson, Yuery, and my own fiancée Riza Hawkeye." Roy said calmly, ignoring that he had just upgraded his own relationship without asking.

Claudio stared at him with a frown for a moment. "Edward Elric? He saved my life a couple of years ago, he appeared no more than eleven or twelve, but very brave. I was unaware he was your son."

"His full name is Mustang- Elric, but Mustang is dropped in his military paperwork. He's sixteen now, was fourteen then." Roy confirms. Claudio nods, he remembered the boy kindly, and Roy saw no reason to give him the full details of their situation.

"It is good that he was able to be under your command so young. I was under the impression your military was not kind to their baby soldiers. However, to allow the boy to be under his father's command and retain his mother's name to give him freedom to develop under his own steam… yes I believe I may have misjudged your people."

"I agree." Added Viktor, who had been sitting quietly in the corner as he had listened to Claudio throw a tantrum. "Had we known that you were so efficient at protecting your son, we would have had an easier negotiations perhaps."

"It's something we do try to keep quiet about, especially while under Bradley's rule. He was not the kindest of leaders." Roy said delicately. It was always a careful balance when sitting in these meetings. "Our current fuhrer, Grumman, is very family oriented. It is his desire to change the way our neighbors have been seeing us, and hopefully have an understanding grow that one bad leader does not indicate our entire people."

"You seem to know the fuhrer well?" Claudio said.

This is the moment of gamble, and Roy knows it. If they hate Grumman the whole talk will fall apart right here and there will be little he could do to pull it back together. "I do. He is Riza's grandfather."

Both other men nodded calmly, which is the best Roy had hoped for. Yes, he was implying his country was considering declaring itself a monarchy which it wasn't, but as long as he never outright said it, and continued to make it seem like an early staged plan, then he should be able to pull it off. Ed wandering off helped, though the boy had just slipped into the room just as Roy thought it.

"I see. He had recently suggested when we were speaking, that he may be naming you his new Lt Fuhrer in the new year." Viktor said thoughtfully.

"He had not said anything to me yet, I assure you." Roy said smartly.

Ed snorted quietly. "Dad, Grampa's going to name you his next in line we all know it." Roy smiled back, clearly the boy had overheard at least part of the conversation, had understood the game Roy was playing, and had decided to play along. This was a relief.

"It has not been confirmed Edward, simply speculation at this point." Roy said, but smiled so Ed would know he approved of Ed's input.

Ed rolled his eyes in response, before snipping. "If Grandpa named anyone other than you it would be Riza."

"You call your mother by her name?" Viktor asked.

"Stepmother. She's wonderful and I love her, but my Mom was the best." Ed said. Even for this charade he wouldn't deny his mother. His father was no problem for him, but he still loved and missed his mom.

"As I said, Riza is my fiancée. Edward and Alphonse's mother was a wonderful woman and devoted mother. She died several years ago now, when the boys were young and I was still in the war." Roy said.

Edward nodded, as Roy cleared his throat. "Too many families have been torn apart by war after endless war. Too many children left alone while their mother's die and their father's fight. I vowed one day to reach high enough in our country to stop the wars. Grumman shares my opinion on the matter."

"I believe… we shall think on what has been said, yes. Prince Ling will be joining our conversation tomorrow. We will continue then." Viktor said and Claudio nodded in agreement. Roy bowed to them then lead Edward from the room. It was for the best they had already agreed Ed was going to have to take part in the peace talks because that conversation made his presence mandatory.

Evening Feast

Now that the representatives of all four countries involved in this treaty had arrived, it was decided by the advisors the best solution was to throw a feast in honor of their guests and the prince. An invitation to attend was delivered to their doors at three, giving everyone roughly two hours to prepare.

Luckily for the Mustang-Elrics they were required to wear their uniforms to any form of state affair. Unluckily, that left Winry and Yuery without proper evening attire. Ling had thought of this when he learned of his father's plans and had enlisted the help of Lan Fan and Mei for them. Lan Fan was roughly the same size as Winry, and could easily lend her one of the many gowns the new princess had been gifted over the last few weeks. She hadn't worn any of them yet, so no one would notice. Yuery seemed at first to be a more difficult issue, until it was pointed out that Huan was slightly stockier and just as tall as the elder toddler.

No one pointed this out to Edward. They needed him in a good mood for the feast. That left the argument with Hawkeye. She, like Winry would easily fit into Lan Fan's gowns. She was a bit taller than the girls, but the dresses were cut long and loose. The problem was she refused. Like the men, she was required to wear her uniform. However, both Emperor Shi and Prince Claudio would find it offensive to remind them that she was serving in the military.

In the end, she agreed reluctantly to wear a gown, provide it covered her back and torso completely. It was the biggest reason Riza never wore gowns, was the tattoo on her back. Lan Fan assured her that it wouldn't be an issue. A few minutes later she returned with several garment bags, that included two blue gowns, and a tiny black suit. The gowns were nearly identical, cut high, floor length, with a high waist designed to hide the early pregnancy of anyone who wore them, this was the standard for any high ranking official's wife. The difference between the two dresses was that one had three quarter sleeves and the other full length. Winry took the one with shorter sleeves, assuming Riza would prefer the other.

Once they were all dressed, hair, jewelry, and makeup completed they were escorted to the ballroom by the guards placed outside their rooms. They waited, along side the other foreign guests to be announced. The other clans in attendance were announced first, in order that they had arrived and were seated so Ed assumed, correctly, that they would be as well. The prince and princesses would be seated after the visitors, but their clansmen were to be seated and settled before anyone else. The Yao- Chen clan was seated first, closest to the Emperor and Crown Prince. Then came the Yang clan. Then, the Wang, followed by the Li. The room was growing crowded, and these were simply the top advisors and their families to each clan.

They had been standing there about twenty minutes, long enough for Yuery to grow restless, when the doors opened and a caller announced "From Amestris, General Roy Mustang, Flame Alchemist. His bride, Lt. Colonel Riza Hawkeye-Mustang. His son, Colonel Edward Mustang-Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist. Colonel Elric's bride, Winry Rockbell-Elric. Their son, Yuery Elric. "

The group walked calmly through the door, and were applauded, before stepping over to the table where they were directed. Winry whispered to Ed once they were seated asking about the way they were introduced. Ed shrugged while Roy leaned over and said. "They assume when one says they are dating or engaged it is the same as being married, just another word for it. There's no point in arguing with people who you are trying to arrange a treaty with over their misunderstanding of you culture."

Winry was still frowning, more for Riza than herself, when Riza placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her before saying. "You are going to be the wife of a politician. Like it or not, sometimes we have to just let these things go. It really doesn't bother me. In some ways it's like I've been his wife all along anyway. Who do you think takes care of the idiot?" Winry nodded with a giggle at Roy indignant scoffing. They all knew it was true, even if he wasn't going to admit it. Riza was the one who took care of him when he wouldn't take care of himself.

Before they could say anything, the door reopened to introduce Tsar Viktor Nikolai and Tsarina Anya. The couple walked in wearing a dark purple suit jacket and white slacks for Viktor and a deep purple floor length gown for Anya. Her gown was almost identical to Riza's, Viktor's suit closely resembled Roy's in cut. The couple were escorted to a sperate table, close to theirs. Anya's auburn curls hung freely down her back.

After the couple had been settled, Prince Claudio was announced alone. He entered wearing another similar outfit, in silver and gold. He was seated at the same table as the Drachmans but several spaces down. He did his best to smile politely at the couple, before they awaited

A different door was opened to announce the arrival of Chen Li, wearing a dark rose colored gown. Not Red, because the color was reserved for the throne, but close as it had always been her clan's color. Her hair was braided and pinned to her head in a complex twist. She was seated next to Prince Claudio, much to Edward's relief.

After she was settled, the doors reopened, and announced the arrival of Naoko Wang, his wives Erity Wang and Jia Wang, and his daughter Emiyo Wang. His mother was excused from the party. The prince, and both of his brides, were dressed in matching traditional robes colored the burnt orange that marked his clan. The baby, Emiyo, was carried in a sash on her mother's chest and dressed in a white gown. Both Wang brides wore their hair in the same single plait. Naoko wore his hair down, loose around his shoulders hanging nearly to his waist. The Wangs were placed at the same table as the The Mustang-Elrics, seated at the end closest to Mustang.

Kenja Yang, and her husband Akira Yang were announced next. Like the Wangs they were dressed in matching traditional robes, theirs in a dark green. Kenja and Akira had their hair in topknots, and were seated next to the Tsar.

Finally, a third door opened behind the high table, as Prince Ling Yao, Princess Consort Lan Fan Yao, Prince Huan Yao, Prince Ping Yao, and Princess Mei Chang-Yao were announced. They filed in, also dressed in traditional robes, all of them down to baby Ping who was in a sash on Lan Fan's chest wore the red of the imperial court. Ling, Lan Fan, and Mei all wore their hair in braids weaved with ribbons of yellow and pink for the clans they represented. When they were seated at the table, the Emperor was introduced from the same door. He moved forward until he sat next to his son.

The room was silent, until he waived his hand. Music began to play as the staff served dinner and the guests began to quietly chat among themselves. Erity whispered that she hoped not to spill on her robes, since this was the clothing she had packed to attend the coronation and had not intended to have to attend a ball before hand.

Winry was surprised and started to ask about how the whole thing usually went, but Ed touched her arm with a small shake of his head and leaned around her to inform Erity that should they need it, he could easily use his cleaning array for their clothing. The women then relaxed and returned to chatting about the state of their village to each other. Ed waited until they were distracted before whispering to Winry that Mustang had informed him it was considered bad luck to mention the coronation directly in the final few days before hand.

Winry nodded in understanding, glad to know not to ask about it. She was also ready to put this whole trip behind her to be honest. She had enjoyed seeing Ling again, and had enjoyed meeting a few of the people here but she was tired and wanted to go home. It was only a few more days, and she knew how important the meetings were to their country's future. She needed to get used to this, because as Riza had pointed out, she was marrying a politician now. She doubted very much that Ed saw himself that way though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I begin planning book seven of this series, I am open to suggestions moving forward on what people would like to see happen in this series, in particular with secondary characters like Team Mustang. I will happily take suggestions into consideration as long as it will fit into the overall storyline.


	10. Coronation and Treaty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winry was still standing beside him, though he had no idea what they had been talking about the last few minutes. She tapped his shoulder after his third nod when she paused to get his attention. "Ed, you haven't heard a thing I've said, have you?"
> 
> "Of course, I did." Ed said stubbornly.
> 
> "Okay, what was I talking about?"
> 
> Ed froze, paling slightly at being called out. He jumped at the first idea that came to mind. "Something about automail?"

Coronation and Treaty

Coronation Day

10:00 am

Ling's Apartment

This was it. They were less than two hours from the ceremony. Everything Ling had worked for for his entire life was here. He was about to be Emperor of Xing, he's already underway to uniting the clans. He managed to marry the girl he's loved for longer than he understood what that meant. He's the father of two wonderful sons. All of his dreams have come to fruition. It had all worked.

He should be happy. He had been happy, was mostly happy. But… he was a bit scared. What if he couldn't do it? What if he failed all of his people, and his children, his wife, his sisters and brother? He was worried. He felt panicked , and he didn't have Greed to steady him anymore. Ling was pacing around the sitting room as he listened to activity around him as Lan Fan and Mei got ready and the nurse dressed and fed the boys.

Ling nodded to himself, before he informed the maid who was busy setting the table for their early lunch to tell his wife he went for a walk. He walked straight out of the door, and before the guards could start to follow him walked right into the apartment across the hall. Inside the Mustang-Elric suite they were busy as well, though currently blissfully staff free.

He had just shut the outer door when Ed spotted him as Ed was coming out of the bedroom while fighting with the medals of his jacket. His hair still hung loose around his shoulders and his feet missing his boots, which were next to the door along with Roy, Riza, and Winry's. "Hey, Ling. Decided you shouldn't bother with knocking after all? Honestly, I'm surprised it took you this long." Ed said with humor in his voice.

"Well, it is my palace after all. Or will be by this afternoon at any rate." Ling said, his voice barely etched with the strain he had been feeling all morning. Just bantering with his friend calmed him, it was almost like they were on the road again only without Greed. "Just thought I would stop by and check up on you. How's the side?"

"Healed completely, and I would thank you not to ask about it loudly enough to remind my father that he's still planning my grounding." Ed said as he half pushed half led Ling into the sitting room and shut the door. "So, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, everything is running smoothly, exactly as expected." Ling said calmly. Ed nodded in understanding. The lack of issues was the issue. He was the same way, something was bound to go wrong, and until it did, Ling was going to be tense.

"Well, since nothing is wrong, you might as well be lazy here as easily as in your own room. Excuse me I have to go get Dad to help me with these stupid pins. I blame my hand. It doesn't have good fine motor function yet."

"Yes, I'm sure. Plus you don't know what order to put them." Ling said with a snicker.

"My hand isn't metal anymore, but I can still hit you." Ed growled.

"How would that look? Hitting the future Emperor just hours before the coronation?"

"Bah. I wouldn't leave a bruise on your face, you'd be fine."

"Go find your Dad to help, I don't know the order they go in either." Ling said as he stood from the couch with a stretch. "I'm going to see if anyone needs any help, then I'll go back to my rooms to make sure they're all ready." Ling ignored Ed's indignant huff as he went in the direction of Yuery's excited babbling. He hadn't even had to explain anything to Ed and already felt better.

He rapped on the open doorway of the bedroom. Inside stood the other three adult members of the apartment, surrounding the excited toddler who was sitting on the center of the bed, half dressed in the outfit he had worn to the dinner. Every time one of the three moved to grab him he would move out of their reach, laughing at the game he had invented to avoid putting on his pants and socks.

Ling watched with amusement as he was greeted by the adults, who kept their attention on the toddler, who was now attempting to pull off his jacket as well. Winry said as Ed walked up behind him. "Yuery was dressed five minutes ago, then he decided to strip, and now we have to fight him back into his pants."

"How? I spent almost an hour wrestling him into his clothes, how'd he get out of them so fast?" Ed said as he slid passed Ling and joined the others trying to catch the now bouncing toddler. Roy reached for the boy again, who ran closer to Riza. Before Riza could grab him he switched course and jumped toward Winry. Ed grabbed him mid jump and held him out to allow the others to redress him.

Roy shoved on his pants while the women each forced on a sock and shoes, before Ed changed his hold to settle the child on his hip. "No Dadda. No." Yuery said, once again pulling on his outfit even in his father's arms.

"I know you don't like it Buddy. I'm not to fond of dressing up either but its gotta be done so you can watch Uncle Ling become a king." Ed said as Roy walked around the bed to fix Ed's pins.

"I'm his uncle now?" Ling said. He was touched but that didn't stop him from sounding surprised.

"Sure, you are. A kid can never have too much love. Besides, you've changed his diaper, as far as I'm concerned make you his uncle. Don't give me that it was Greed story either because same body, so it counts." Ed said before leaving the room again. Ling smiled after him, as Roy ruffled his hair and welcomed him to the family.

4:00pm

Ballroom

The coronation had been as long and boring as Ed had feared. Luckily, Winry had been there to slip out mostly unnoticed with Yuery when he had decided he'd had enough. Ed noticed a nurse had done the same with Huan and Ping. Really, small children could not be forced to sit through hours of speeches and ceremony. All three boys were returned by the time it was needed for them to take pictures and greet people.

The party, which had started a half an hour ago, seemed to be a better fit for the toddlers. Both Yuery and Huan were currently being walked around as people offered them bits of food from their own plates, charmed by the boys. Ed was doing his best to suppress the urge to go snatch his child from the strangers. What if they offered him something he couldn't eat? So far, he hadn't found any allergies, but anything was possible. Plus, so many strangers touching him was bound to make him sick, all those germs. What if one of them was a wizard?

Ed's eyes met Ling's across the room, and in that moment, he realized they were in the same boat. Ling wanted nothing more than to go rescue his child from the strangers. It almost made Ed laugh. At least, going forward, he would always have one ally in the overprotective corner. Two, when he remembered that Roy's knuckles were nearly white clinching them as he stiffly nodded consent for the nurse to wander around with the boy.

Winry was still standing beside him, though he had no idea what they had been talking about the last few minutes. She tapped his shoulder after his third nod when she paused to get his attention. "Ed, you haven't heard a thing I've said, have you?"

"Of course, I did." Ed said stubbornly.

"Okay, what was I talking about?"

Ed froze, paling slightly at being called out. He jumped at the first idea that came to mind. "Something about automail?"

Winry sighed heavily. "I said I was proud of your restraint, but would you like me to go retrieve our son before your brain explodes. Apparently, it's too late for that."

"Yes, please go get him. Thank you." Ed said, ignoring the jab. After all, he was getting what he wanted and hadn't had to make a scene to do it. Plus, he rather enjoyed that Winry had started referring to Yuery as 'hers'. Hopefully Al wouldn't get weird about it.

Roy, having overheard the entire exchange leaned in to whisper. "You weren't completely wrong. She had mentioned opening an automail shop in Central right after Yuery walked away…when she realized you really weren't paying attention, she even got you to agree to model your leg to bring in new clients. I don't think she'll hold you to it. Maybe."

"What?! Oh great. At least it's not Rush Valley. Those people are crazy." Ed grumbled. "She took advantage of my distraction to get her way, how could she!"

"Get used to it. Riza's been doing it to me for years. It helps you to learn to divide your attention though, which is good." Roy said. "After the fourth time I agreed to go into town and help carry back that weeks groceries while reading, I learned how to listen to her at the same time as I did anything else. Those two have a lot in common. Now they are sharing notes so we're both in trouble."

"Lan does the same thing to me, always has." Ling said from behind them, making Ed nearly jump. He'd known Ling was making his way over, but hadn't expected him to be so close.

"We should all be grateful Teacher isn't here." Ed said solemnly as they watched Lan Fan join Winry and Riza in whatever conversation they had begun. Huan was safely on Lan Fan's hip, as Yuery was on Winry's and Ping was in Riza's arms. They noticed the men watching them at the same time, and waived.

The men waived back, as Ed asked "How much longer is this thing? I don't know if Yuery's going to be able to keep going much longer. He already missed his nap."

"Another hour or two according to the advisors." Ling said with a shrug. "You should probably be able to get away with slipping out before that though. Just make sure everyone sees you making rounds. You were already seen speaking to me, so that's good. Tomorrow we officially sign the treaties."

"Ugh. Don't remind me. We're going to have to sit through a ton of pictures and questions, and I have to wear this suit again." Ed groaned.

"It's better to get used to it now, you'll be wearing a suit to work from now on." Roy said with a smile. Ed glared at him, but didn't say anything before walking away to shake hands with strangers. Roy chuckled at Ed's reaction, before excusing himself with a bow to do the same the opposite direction.

Ling sighed. Ed may be able to escape using his child as an excuse, but Ling was stuck until the last of the guests. He was tired, and wanted to just sit for awhile. Luckily his father had left a while ago, to be sure to catch his train. Apparently, the man had decided to travel abroad now that he wasn't tied to the throne.

Ling hoped he never felt that way about it, like it was an obligation to be endured, instead of an honor to receive. He suspected that like leading his clan there would be days where he just wanted to walk away, but there was a difference between having a bad day and not caring what happened to his people. He'd hated his father for years because the man didn't care, but had he always been like that or had being the ruler changed him? Ling vowed to not allow this to happen to him. If he started down that road, he would remove himself long before he could fail his people that severely.

Treaty Signing

10:00 am

This part was largely ceremonial, everything having been worked out over the last few days before Ling's ascension. General Mustang, as Fuhrer Grumman's proxy, Prince Claudio as his father's proxy, Tsar Viktor, and Emperor Ling stood together in front of an ornate table as cameras flashed to take photos of the momentous occasion.

For the first time in four hundred years the four countries had agreed to work together for a better future for their people. There was an immediate ceasefire on the borders, a rail line was to be built across the desert, connecting Xing by land. A trade agreement had been made between the four countries, that included not just goods but knowledge.

A joint university would be opened, open to all four peoples, to teach the various forms of Alchemy. At Edward and Ling's request, they would also teach magic. It was time to stop fighting and work together, because it had been going on for far too long.

Edward was drug up to the table to be included in several photos, despite his protests, as the Hero of Amestris. It was bad enough being called the Hero of the People, but now this! If anyone deserved the new title, it was his Dad which Ed was quick to point out but was ignored. He smiled for the cameras, waived to the people, and vowed to burn his uniform as soon as possible. Apparently, some of his thoughts were showing on his face because his dad made sure to whisper to him that even if he lost the suit they would just issue him a new one.

Ed hoped the whole thing was over soon, he wanted to get a chance to properly say goodbye to Ling and Lan Fan before they left later today to head back home. After much discussion they were bringing just Mei with them to help start up the joint program, she would be acting as Ling's proxy in Amestris for the next few months. Chen, however, would be waiting until they had settled the details before crossing. Al was going to be thrilled.

Ed glanced at his watch a few times, but time was slipping away fast. Luckily they had already packed, so all he had to do was meet Winry, Riza, and Yuery at the carriage. Roy finally signed all of the paperwork, and they were excused, so Ed managed a couple of minutes to talk to Ling before Roy almost dragged him away. The two boys promised to write often until the phone lines were established.

Ling watched the carriages drive away with all of his guests, before he returned to his office. He was certainly going to miss his friends and his sister, though it seemed his father had left him enough work to keep him busy for the next few weeks. Now that he had made treaties with their neighbors, and with some of the clans, it was time to worry about the rest of the country.


End file.
